The October Music, Stanza 2 - Day 24

Calling for Storms

            Breathe, Poseidon. Neptune. Thor. Taranis. Enlil. Perun. Raijin. Whoever may hear, whoever may be out there, breathe upon us. See the corruption running deep to the bone in us and purge it. Understand that we have no hope left for good. Understand that the vile rot that is humanity cannot be saved. Cannot be recovered. Breathe, god or goddess of storms, and let your vengeance pour down upon us. If not us, if not everyone, if we as a people are not worthy of your hatred, then I humbly ask that you inflict it upon me and me alone.

             I have done so much worthy of being washed away. I have hurt so many. I am the one that attacks late at night in the alleys of the city, the one that uses knives and fists and hobnailed boots to damage and destroy. I steal from those who have nothing and feel no guilt. I hold them tight against the cobblestone and take what I wish from them. Their money, their trust, their virtue…whatever strikes my fancy, I have stolen, taken for myself and my own pleasure.

            I am the one holding poison in small bags and large bricks. I keep my trade silent, under the nose of those who would prevent me from plying my wares. I find the most vulnerable, the sad and the unwanted and the addicted, and I prey upon them. I whisper false promises soaked in honeyed words into their ears and sell them the filth that will end their lives. I am made rich by their weakness.

            I am the one who creates anger wherever I go. I am the grifter who exploits the fear and outrage of the average person. I make them terrified of everyone else and promise them that Everyone Else will not be a problem. I hold no views of my own. I do not care for the petty feelings of people. I am needed by one group and then by another, by one side and then the opposition, and I move among them as a phantom. I pour the fuel and light the kindling and disappear to engulf others. I am not for one or the other – I am for myself and I am that which matters.

            I am the one that uses the wondrous tools that the world provides and perverts them. I make creativity irrelevant and offer it freely as pablum to the un-curious and lazy. I take human connection and turn it to conflict through words nobody would expect. I create a world where the most disappointing human impulses exist with the push of a button. There is one more button to push and I hope I achieve doing just that soon.

            Breathe upon me, wash me away. Clear away my poison from the world and allow humanity to rebuild. Shower them with freedom and allow them to breathe.
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            Remove my hate, my evil from the world, or I will not stop. I will never stop.