Voraciously breeding
In dank and foul quarters
Hidden from the light
Not within ourselves
For we stand above reproach--
But lurking somewhere
Behind dark, alien eyes.

Fear not so much
The brute and unexpected
Razor bite--
But the slow infection
After
That drills down
Into our marrow.

See how in the name of Love
And Honor
And Truth
We selflessly sacrifice
To ferret out
The ungodly, slimy beast!

Have we not succeeded
Before?
The black milk stopped,
The barbed wire rotted--
How clean and bright
We shine
With our laurels gleaming
In the eye of the sacred
Word--

Yet, how far, my friends,
Have we really come?
Beware--
A worm inhabits
Even the purest heart--

Reason still sycophant
To the untamed claw,
Self-righteous shrieks
From every direction--
Has our justice evolved
Higher than this:
More diabolical axes?

Oh, the sadness, the pain
Of humanity!
Will the cleansing
Eclipse
Of the mushroom
Finally
Take our grievance to the world
Beyond?

Perhaps if we dive
Down
Deep
(Dare we try? We might not breath)
To fathom
The heretic cause:

In the cold eyes of
Our foe
Behind his savage mask
Is a vision
We must not meet--

The other part of ourselves.