(no subject)

[apiphile]

How To Be Clean

The problem is
We want a narrative

We want to know why it happened to her,
and not to me, whether these people
were really people
or what he said they were:
animals.

We want a story:
The good woman is suffering
because the man is a monster.
The bad woman is suffering
because she is bad
and tempted the man.
It is the same man both times.

We want a story:
The monster man was raised by
monster parents, but his brother
is a saint.

We want answers:
They were too weak, we will be better
They were too venal, we will be better
They were too impious, we will be better

We build a bonfire:
Here are the shades of grey,
Here is the other side of the story,
Here is the blurring of "Us" and "Them".

Now we have ashes,
and monsters,
and black,
and white.

We want a narrative
Where the good woman's suffering
has meaning and the bad woman
is strapped to the stake:
When the monster man strikes
the bad woman it is retribution,
when he strikes the good, it is
a mistake.

We have answers:
She is a bad woman, I am better
He is a monster, my suffering is greater
Here is a bonfire for the animals
who were neither "Us" nor "Them".