It is not politicians who have fanned
Provincialism and intolerance—
Not only them, but graspers after power
Of sundry stripes, it like a contraband,
Their bigotry in hatreds given flower,
Seething. It is the common man who fans.
The man who has forgotten cultivation
And dignity, remain the human ends
Sublimest in their practice; rather they
Let loose a fury—rancor, denigration
Obsessively cast every which-a-way,
When common wealth requires not foes but friends.
Once giving way to anger, acquiescing,
Man’s intellect and moral force may be
Manipulated, swayed, made mobocratic
By agents of persuasion not professing
Honestly but deceptively erratic
Trite formulas—espoused fanatically.
Yet, politicians bear their share of guilt,
Even as the self-righteous promulgators
Of fallacies and lies—when rather their
Offices as should shun blood being spilt,
Must show and tell restraint, compassion’s care,
And never an alignment with truth’s haters.
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