One of the Bushes announced that we or our government
Would henceforth be kinder and gentler than hitherto
History does not record the fruition of that declaration

Instead we hear testimony of invasions extortions crucifixions
Massacres sieges enslavements punishments bodily and mental
Threats assaults and ultimatums

Sometimes we suffer these indignities ourselves
Or perpetrate them
And sometimes an innovation enters the atrocious catalogue

As if natural pain and disease and inevitable death weren’t enough
Even when the schoolhouse shooter or deputized official
Becomes a force of thoughtless nature
Nobody gave birth to oneself to one’s own inclinations

A mother nurses her newborn daughter
While watching her son play Final Fantasy 7
She remembers how brave he was
When she took him to get his first haircut