My first Steem post, a poem, forgive me if I stay anonymous, at least for now
The Enemy rose up, and there he stood, wings spread
Defiance written on every angle of his face
He laughed from a deep place that ran all the way
Into the bowels of hell, death and even to the den of fear itself
We shuddered and stood stock still shocked at
The destruction he had wrought his face etched in our
Minds that we might never forget that this day evil
Had visited our shores and stood, glaring eye to eye
With us, asking us to acquiesce, to turn away and
Allow him to finish his job in silence unmolested
Some of us turned, understanding his offer to
Let us live, our lives untouched, if we would
Only turn a blind eye to his work as he busily
Collected the bodies of the slain and maimed and
With a mighty roar flung them up until they hung
Suspended in space, where we might never forget
That his was a strength unmatched by our arms
Some of us returned his stony stare and purposed
In our hearts to return violence for violence
As with a mighty rush of wings, and dust
He ascended, spiraling up and out of our sight
Leaving a cold sense of dread of his return
In his wake and life went on not back to what it
Would have been, but on, headlong plunging
Along a course of “progress” to an unknown
That is not to say unintended goal in the fog
Of the future and the rest of us stood, uncertain what
To make of events in that time, but certain sure
That we knew who the enemy was and we would
Recognize him, were he ever to show his hideous
Features again and we fell to our knees and asked
For rescue from a place we could not see a place
Deep within ourselves, where lay the promised
Seed of revolution and we rose as one to fight
Our fight was not to be with arms, or might
Of flesh and pride and anger and bitterness but
With light we would not return evil for evil but
Overcome evil with good as we had seen within
The God seed deposited there giving us full
Right and dominion and authority over this
Enemy who we knew we had battled before
And our hands grew weary with the burden of
Life and our knees grew stiff so that they no
Longer easily bent in humility to let the fight
Be taken where it belonged and our eyes grew
Tired of waiting for salvation and we began to
See the face of our enemy on the faces of our
Fellow travelers, and in time a sorting happened
So that some of them became a surrogate enemy
For us to place our hatred upon to lash out at
And to be sure some of them sided with our
Enemy in their hearts, in response to the attacks
We hurled against them tirelessly in our rage
And frustration soon so few remembered the
Actual enemy that he was free to come and go
As he saw fit to rape and loot and pillage and
Influence through all layers of society until
Darkness began to shutter the light that once
Had burned so brightly inside of us and though
We still said the ancient words and spoke of
Love, now it was a filtered love that some
Were worthy of and some were not sides
Were drawn up, with many camps growing
Overlapping, and conflicting with each passing
Moment the tensions rose so that now, those
Of us who still remembered the Enemy's face
Saw that he was there, was not even bothering
To hide anymore, was out in the open, leading
Our armies against each other like a giant
Puppet master, hurling our broken bodies
Into the fight, relishing in the anger, rage
And hatred that we had amassed on both sides
On all sides! He laughed, and grew, and glowed
And gleamed until he had become the God of
Our world, because you see, the rightful
Creator gave us this power. This power of worship
Of obeisance, of sacrifice, and that worship
Is a power in and of itself which embues
The object of its affection with a power that
Is like no other and our Creator wanted that
Power to be returned to Him, so that he could
In turn reflect it back on us in blessing but
Instead we chose to hate those who had stood
Shoulder to shoulder with us when first our
Enemy raised his ugly, fearsome head
We chose instead to paint his face where
Theirs belonged to fight our fight with
Them and not against the Enemy of our
Souls and in time, Creator will come and
Release us from this hell, but He is patient
And his patience waits to see the day when
Once again we will see who the enemy is
That he is not of flesh and blood like me
That it is not my fellow traveler who
Ultimately brings this death and destruction
That we, like the first among us have
Chosen this course of rebellion and are
Now reaping as we have sown his patience
Waits for seeds of peace, and love and faith
To be planted once again in the hearts of men
So that a reaping can occur when he reclaims
His own from the clutches of the Enemy
And love reigns in a light that destroys the
Darkness without hatred, without malice
No violence for violence, but good overcoming