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self-destructive innocence
Folder:
light something unadulterated
i cannot find
what here is pure?
what human can say
"i love you"
and unreservedly mean it?
children,
they say,
innocence is golden:
don't you ever lose it.
"but rabbi,"
you say
"are not the innocent curious?
the two go hand in hand.
and does curiosity not lead to knowledge,
knowledge to power
and power to corruption?"
the great mystery of the world
would then be self-destroying innocence.
so perhaps we are not born innocent at all
but corrupt to the bone
with a disease that gnaws to the core
watch a demanding child
expect the world
and cry when they are denied a candy bar
watch a teenager
cut his wrists
because a girl does not share
in his passionate lust
"what pure thing in the world
i cannot have!" he cries
not knowing he longs for more
than he could
fathom
for what can we have
that will remain pure
after we touch it
with unclean hands?
