I Am Within You

​I am the beast that stirs in your breast.
Prosperity  can tie me down.
Education can push me back.
But I wait.

You stare at the screen, judging the animals in human skin.
You say, “How can people do that?”
They can.
You call them savages, monsters.
True.

But lurking underneath your self-righteousness is me.
You are civilized because of your values. 
Wrong.
You are stable because you are right.
Wrong.
They hate you because of your freedom, your values. 
Wrong.
I am here waiting.

Take away that wealth, that civilizing prosperity.
Take away your dignity, let me ooze from your pores.
You want to stay on top, and think you deserve it.
You think they are robbing you of your destiny.
I stir.

Who needs a brain when a gut works fine?
Fight or flight, right?
Let me out and I will remove them from your sight.
Feed me your fears, they are my nourishment.
Let go of reason, let me go.
It is they who are the monsters.
It takes monstrous acts to vanquish monsters right?

Now you are a beast. 
Welcome.
Let us hate together.
You think you have escaped me.
But how can you, I am within.
Only perpetual vigilance can hold me back.
But without empathy, I will always be waiting.
I am within you.