i can tell you
what your deepest fear is
the same as mine and all humankind:
that you will not be loved

as a member of the global tribe
certain codes and rituals are practiced
to strengthen the story we think of as us
our roles are well worn
one generation to the next ensuring
some comfort will be brushed along our skin

newborns who are never touched
develop a syndrome known as
failure to thrive yes they die
as has been documented scientifically

can we see how clinical we have become?

love withheld, love unreceived leaves wounds
anger that snakes through a body of scars
trailing behind it festering resentment,
a serpentine reorienting to things
so they now make circular sense
the best defense is calculated offense
much lack can be hidden in war where
we battle the monster attacking our worth

you know good and well
this is how we start thinking
so we can deliberately kill
without blinking an eye
a rational logical decision
based upon the original omission
of any sense of tenderness
yes we truly will lay down lives for this

but as i mentioned before i know
your deepest darkest most hidden fear:
to be judged the outcast unworthy of love
not by god his son or the holy host
but by fellow living breathing humans
the sole agents capable of physical touch

is it too much to ask at last
that we pass this along one to another
as some show signs of having been missed
in the original round where all were blessed

it has become a rather pressing matter
as we are about to drown
in the trickle of intricacies
bleeding from every corner
of this well-narrated tale
of utter loneliness and murderous terror

please be kind and pass it around

©John Greenleaf-Maple – text and art 9/29/17