On the non-intelligence of evil

 

When presented with good,
evil, actually, can't even remember
what it was thinking

It can string impressions together
in the echo of itself against itself,
in the escalation of provocation

It can lance forward
with its narrative of
good as the other edge of itself
(self righteous and indignant)
as that which justifies its bellicosity

But good - real good, pure good,
the one that never justifies
and never is provoked,
that always wishes well
and always blesses -

Evil can't stand before it,
because, in the face of good,
it can't think of anything,
can't imagine what, besides good,
it could have wanted.
In the face of good,
evil drops itself entirely,
and we reach out, innocent,
to take the prize.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 26, 2021