The Ultimate Phobia

'Islamophobia' and 'Homophobia'
are two terms among many
whose very trendiness
I struggle to comprehend.

The ultimate phobia comes
from cursing someone as 'stupid',
and making a bad deed or two
the sum of of the whole person.

There we act out our fear
of rational argument by ignoring
the vital differences between people
which multiply the sum of life.

To curse and do down the intelligence
of another is to reduce your own
to brute insensitivity, and to increase
the other persons sense of burden
to make include your contempt.

Such contempt is a live death wish.

The Politics Of Trauma

We call it 'Politics' when we petrify
the suffering of The Worthy Few from the past
into a drive to transform present day society,
and to this add the paradox of our countries rich
trading with 'our enemies' whilst the popular press
proclaim the nation's hatreds in lurid headlines.

But patriotic anger always burns out
-reinventing itself as anger and exhaustion
and we surprise ourselves with the novelty
of how we create a new 'unworthy poor'.

Bad Neighbourliness

I suspect that the real reason
Russian citizens of The Ukraine,
the descendants of Stalin's remnants,
have taken to the streets with arms,
to set about destroying the symbols
the state of the country they live in
is simply because they live too well.
The Russians who identify with Russia
rather than the country they live in
want the blessings of a shorter life,
more ridden with alcohol abuse,
increased stress and associated illnesses,
with reduced quality that is more like
life in The Oligarchy next door
which that want to see restored-
and extended worldwide.