Overheard I

It wasn’t the names or dates that fascinated me
Chalk all that up to the dumbing down of history
The need for lame testing
You have to get beyond the headline story
To where it gets gory
To the humanity
The beauty and the insanity

It was the dark plots that captured me
How evil embodies itself in each era, mirthlessly
Leaving crumbs that we brush away
Between the boards of a selective, glorified story
But they remain, floating in bygone time and space
Whispering

You’ve heard of H.H. Holmes?
Killed dozens in his home
Built it to terrorize, with secret compartments and vents
Demented
This was 100 years ago

He had that same inward curve
That shows up every few generations
Like a black hole
It sucks in light itself

Evil
Is what happens when you despair of hope
And give in
To the need for endless self-comfort
And become your own god
Since gods are justified to do whatever the hell they want
Power the end all;
Mere mortals beware

Well, it happens in every era,
That’s my point
This humanity
This darkness
Hitler had the keys to it
But other Hitlers go on unheralded, trust me

We look back on history and we remember
The good bits, sweetened like wine--
You know, people kissing on V-J Day and all that

It’s nice

But beneath it, there’s the dark current
The desperation of human hearts
That can slip their moorings
And fall apart

I don’t know how God sees it and allows it all and is crucified by it
Over and over again
And still holds everything together