January 11-B, 2023

Rodney King's question,
"Why can't we just get along?"
remains unanswered
as an unacknowledged burden
of every generation,
and will remain so
as long as there are
"People like you
who make people like me
hate people like you."

Because you are black,
or Mexican,
or gay,
or poor,
or ...
whatever it is 
that somebody likes to hate.

If you want to fix something,
fix that.

There is no fix for any of the
important things.
Like the way we see things,
and the way we feel
about the things we see,
and what we do
about the way we feel...

And the fascists keep things boiling
with their
"Why can't I hate you if I want to?"

Jesus and the Buddha
throw up their hands
and walk on to the next town,
hoping to find an audiance
who can hear what they have to say--
because they cannot change minds
that need to be changed,
which is all enlightenment
and realization are about.

Changing only the minds 
that can be changed
leaves unchanged a massive sea of minds
churning,
heaving,
seething,
rolling through the ages
as the unrestrained backwash
of civilization's best efforts
to just get along.

What to do about that
leaves us looking for ways
of securing the cooperation
of people who delight in being
uncooperative all their life long.

The Huns, Goths, Vandals and Vikings
were there when Pax Romana was no more.

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