Contempt

Contempt, folks.

Contempt.

It’s the whole problem

Phobias and hatreds and prejudices

All deemed tolerant until they turn

Contemptuous.

You have to ask,

What is the benefit of contempt?

What is the purpose of shame?

Correcting bad behavior, right?

What constitutes a bad behavior?

Laws, social order, but most of all–

Perception.

Each individual’s contempt a lone wolf operating

In stealth, no one truly shares contempt

With anyone else, as it can always be weaponized

In a last resort– intimacy, too falls victim

To contempt, a way of distancing yourself

A way of distinguishing

Me vs them.

Everyone, absolutely everyone

Is capable of contempt, participates in it.

The tricky thing is realizing

What’s helping, and what’s simply

Mean– by which I mean

Demeaning, aggressive and

Purposeless. If you want to inspire change

In yourself, or in others

There are a million things you can be

Besides your worst instinct.