The Edge of Humanity

At the edge of Humanity
There is a space
A gap representing a choice

Life has assaulted you
Beaten you back
Destroyed your youthful dreams
Left you bereft
Angry
Disappointed
Disillusioned
Broken?

You feel outside hope
Worthless
Trodden down by the success of others
Diminished by being different
You’re all wrong in this world
For any number of reasons
That don’t exist anywhere
Other than in the minds of those
Who make themselves feel better
By attacking ‘the other’
With weapons 
Of verbally manufactured destruction

You want to fight back!
What’s the point of being decent?
Was the point of working hard?
Trying hard?
Being a loving partner?
A true friend?
An honest person?
When the world around you is corrupted

By lying
Cheating
Stealing
Killing
Oppressing
Using others
Success at all costs
No matter the cost

The I-I-I world

The judgemental world
The cruel world
The nasty
Limitlessly self-forgiving
Self-justifying 
Violent and selfish
World

Where children are legitimate targets
Women are weapons of war
Unarmed innocents fall in their millions
In the face of missiles 
The elderly are counted as past useful
And left to die
Animals are there to be tortured
If people feel like it

It’s finally got to you
You fought hard
It was a brave and exhausting fight
But now you’re beaten

You’ve reached the edge of humanity

The void
Where your next choice
Will dictate
Whether you lose yourself
To them

Whether what you are
The good you are
Will survive
Whether humanity will suffer
One more terrible defeat
The loss of a worthwhile person
A loving heart
A virtuous soul
A humanitarian beyond price

Stare into that void
This is where they live
The warmongers 
The abusers
The torturers
The unethical business people
The bullies
The demeaning bosses
The so called elite
The poor at heart poor
The angry
The Liars
Those who cheat and steal

This is where they live
This is the swamp you will die in
Long before you fly from this world
This is their ultimate victory
And your heart’s destruction

Stop!
To are too good for this
You are not a joke of a person
You are a vital and necessary person
Hope and inspiration
The loss of your finer feelings
The loss of your belief
In equality
Diversity
Acceptance
In the good things
Your instinctive protest about the things
That shouldn’t even be things

This would be a tragedy
Sending out a ripple
That will tilt the world a little more
In the wrong direction

We do not need another one
Of them!
But we do need you
We cannot afford to lose even one of us
The innocents can’t
The planet can’t
Kindness can’t

Now step back
You know you were going to anyway
Warrior of the light
Keeper of the peace
Protector of the vulnerable
Truly good heart

The edge of humanity
Is no place for you
That’s not why you’re here
You know that
And you have never been more important
Nor more right


Deb Hawken
March 2024

Inspired by Edge of Humanity Magazine