Nil

There is nothing good in this world
that Evil has not fingered, kissed,
touched, ogled.

Innocence and optimism lie
botched and mangled at the bottom
of the chasm between “promise” and “deed.”

There is nothing good in these hearts of ours,
Skulking and raging through this most absurd of years.
Historians nod and return to their dead tales.
The dead harm us less than the living these days.

Our atrocities are new every morning;
Great is our faithlessness.

*written in 2017, exasperated and angry, weary of every new horrible headline