About four years ago a guy I went to grade school with set a truck in front of his house on fire and waited for the authorities to arrive. When they did he shot and killed a policeman. There was a standoff until he set his house on fire and then killed himself. Good people wondered "Why would somebody do that ?" as good people do when something like that happens. This poem is an attempt to answer that question although Trent Reznor did a pretty good job with the song "Burn". As hard as I try to be positive and life-affirming in my world view I am NOT AT ALL SURPRISED when this stuff happens. I used to blame "Original Sin" or the Devil when the Baltimore Theology was still firmly ensconced in my thought process but as time went on these words from Madge the Manicurist brought about an epiphany: these words were "You're soaking in it !" They say it takes a whole village to raise a child and I guess the same is true for the children who turn out to be killers.

THE VILLAGE

In the village, the peaceful village

Ignorance is bliss and

The lion never sleeps

Now that he knows that

His cage is for keeps

In the village, the quiet village

Averting their eyes from

The invisible man

They've seen all their lives

"Ignore him, he'll go away."

In the village, the deafmute village

When churchbells ring and

Choirs are singing "Just As I Am"

The lion plays back every

Lie ever told him

In the village, the same old village

The lion lies dead with

His head half blown off

As the Channel 4 News

Breaks the story