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March Slice of Life No. 29
Poetry Friday

These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness,
the Beginning of the creation of God:
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I could wish you were cold or hot. So then,
because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,
I will vomit you out of My mouth.” -Revelation 3:15-17

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“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.” -Elie Wiesel

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Out of the words of Revelation and the words of Elie Wiesel — lines arose, flowed through my pen, and formed this poem.

Indifference

I blur lines between dusk and
dawn, crime and punishment,
light and darkness, cruelty
and compassion, good and evil
With me, you’ll see nothing.

I am tempting, often seductive,
making it easy to look away,
easier to be detached, to
avoid interruptions in your life.
With me, you’ll do nothing.

I am called apathy by some, neither
hot nor cold, unconcerned, neither
loving nor hating, uninterested,
reducing anguish to abstraction.
With me, you’ll feel nothing.

I make way for apostasy who abandoning
sacred beliefs turns from truth to heed fables.
Behind us comes anarchy—the great bearer
of confusion and perpetrator of lawlessness.
With me, you’ll believe nothing.

I am neutral, though neutrality helps
oppressors, never victims. I am sworn
to silence, though silence encourages
tormentors, never the tormented.
With me, you’ll judge nothing.

I am more dangerous than anger,
more treacherous than hate. I’ll
soak your countryside in blood,
turn your cities into cemeteries,
With me, you’ll suspect nothing.

I am the friend of your enemy. Hear
this fair warning — stand by, do
nothing and I shall take your humanity.
You will be dead and not know it.

I am indifference.
I am your end.

© 2018 Alice Nine. All rights reserved.

United States National Holocaust Museum

Elie Wiesel – Noble Prize Speech 1986

NIGHT by Elie Wiesel (downloadable pdf)

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March 2019 SOLC–Day 22
Thank you to

Two Writing Teachers
This week’s
#PoetryFriday Roundup
is hosted by Carol at Carol’s Corner

Poetry Friday Schedule Jan – June 2019