A hate-filled house –

Anger dripping from its beams –

Is a decrepit house

Rotting at the seams.

That selfish wrath we spew

All the “I haves, mine, and this is only for me”

All the lines in the sand we drew

It seeps into our head, our heart

It becomes a defining part

Of who we see we are

And is copied by our youth

Who accept our enmity

Our views as truth

That this is the way to be –

Biased, bigoted, blind –

Hating, hating

hating

for

eternity.

—————-

**Note from the author: I wrote this after reading about two men in my city who gave their lives intervening as a man yelled biased vitriol at two young women, one of whom was wearing a hijab. I wanted to write about the bravery of these men. I wanted to write about their goodness. I wanted to focus on the things that they did right, and sow those seeds. But I couldn’t find the right words, only these. May they rest in peace, recognized for the heroes they are and will always be.