An act of violence: my creation. Another act of violence led to fleeing. Acts of violence—the dictionary to the world. Acts of violence everywhere. A hole in the wall—act of violence. Remorse doesn’t delay, it’s only a reaction to the other. And you think an act of violence will set us free? The cage was created in part as a reactionary means to an end. Violence got us here to begin with.

Find royalty in your corner, they won’t see your worth. An act of violence could encourage. The elements don’t even appreciate the ways in which we congregate, so light them on fire. We already have in most cases. Our peers peer into our lives, delegating what’s wrong and right yet stand by their own hypocrisies. An act of violence changes that. Moral or just? That’s up for debate.

Defense is agreed upon as an acceptable correction. Don’t let it be someone with itchy fingers or a loud mouth. They’ll cancel you, focus on the simple half truth, not the whole of you. An act of violence in the yard, at the school, far away, right up your face, and anything that relates.

An act of violence: my creation. An act of violence: my prison.

I asked some people at my work what they thought of when I say “Acts of violence” –

Age: 28
Race: African American
Gender: Male
Response: Sexual Assault.
Pushed to respond further: Assault on a child or woman.
When asked if he had any experience with that act of violence: His brother sexually assaulted him when he was young.

I asked another.

Age: 55
Race: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Response: War.
Pushed to respond further: Iwo Jima.
When asked if he had any experience with that act of violence: No, but he lived in Japan for some time. War never entered his life directly, but he said his generation was affected greatly by the war.

I asked one more.

Age: 27
Race: Caucasian
Gender: Female
Response: Riots
Pushed to respond further: Pictures people yelling and pushing each other and being violent without understanding one another. Just overbearing hate.
When asked if she had any experience with that act of violence: No. Never.

Three different perspectives on violence.
Perhaps this has no point, but then again, if there was, would it be satisfying anyway? Like the bored alley cat smacking the butterfly around, the point isn’t what got us here in the first place, but we are here and we have to live with it.

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