Villains

When they said
in storybooks and comic books
that a villain
"can't love",
I used to think
that their heart was a fire,
engulfed in hate;
that their interaction with the world outside their brain
was nothing more than a detestation,
abject loathing -
a rejection, if you will -
of the innate goodness
of the human condition.

Or I also thought that
"can't love"
meant that their heart was a stone:
solid, permanent,
inflexible,
unfeeling,
and unaffected by the outside world;
not a fiery inferno of hate,
not a smouldering coal of resentment,
just a cold, hard, unchanging
stone.

But I have since learned that
"can't love"
doesn't have to be the firestorm of hatem
or the cold stone of unfeeling,
but it can also be
the startled kitten of fear,
the small curled up ball that doesn't trust anything, anyone
won't trust anything, anyone
can't trust anything, anyone
because it's been kicked once
and doesn't want
to be kicked
again.

Epistle to the Heavenites

¹ Dear God,  

² Here’s another prayer
You’re not going to answer.
But it’s okay,
because I forgive You.

³ I forgive You
for telling a guy to commit infanticide
just to prove his faith;
it’s nothing personal, it’s just mythology.

⁴ I forgive You
for the divine battles fought under Your banner
and the holy blood spilled in Your name;
it’s nothing personal, it’s just history.

⁵ I forgive You
for the hurricanes and earthquakes,
for water-filled lungs and bodies buried beneath buildings;
it’s nothing personal, it’s just geography.

⁶ I forgive You
for the donations and tithes
that gild the Pope’s throne in gold;
it’s nothing personal, it’s just business.

⁷ I forgive You
for emphasising belief so much
that people don’t stop to think;
it’s nothing personal, it’s just psychology.

⁸ But most of all,
I forgive You
for taking her away from me.

⁹ Amen,
Kevin

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So I wrote a poem for class the other day. Always wanted to write something like this.