Destructivity

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Destructivity is the result of an unlived life.
What cannot grow up grows down —
nails and hairs of the beard into the flesh, unrequited desires
calcifying our blood vessels, envy
changing into ulcers, sadness into lice,
dirt into flies. We are always,
in a way, wandering knights; we are always looking
for what to fight for and against, whom
to hate with a just hatred. This unlived life
is like a boiling water pot in our hands
which we hurry to put away, and there
is no time for anything else, and we are angry
at all who sit quietly
around the kitchen table and talk
about Erich Fromm and that destructivity
is the result of an unlived life.

*******
✍ Jaan Kaplinski (Tartu, Estonia, born 22 January 1941).
◙ Artwork: William Kurelek

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