by CJ Grant

Created on: June 17, 2009

Hate

You started out hating vegetables

then the hate grew

progressed on to the kid next door

then to the your teacher

who judged you unfairly

then to your sister

who made fun of you and wouldn't let you in her room

then despite yourself

you graduated and joined the service

only to have your hate built

upon follies of patriotism

with a M-16 in one hand and a manual in the other

then to no surprise

they called you off to war

it was your turn to share the hate.

The beach was the first

that you ever landed on

without thinking of your tan

and you were glad for the sunset

not for the view for the blindness

of the snipers that shot hate

through hollow point shells

that left behind whiffs of burning flesh

and you clutched your manual while gathering your hate

and hurled it back towards the red water

as you realize that even light

could not make the strategy of hate

any more comprehensible.

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