MALICE

MARCH 3

MALICE

Malice wounds the human heart,
It sends its hateful pain,
Numbs the senses of the soul,
And causes the body to wane.

Malice is born of envy,
With jealousy at its side,
Companions of greed and avarice,
In the hardened heart reside.

Fear stalks the one who uses
Malice as a weapon in life,
Slaying all good intentions,
Losing the war of inner strife.

Bitterness wages the battle
Within the troubled mind,
Riddled with fears of conquest,
The bigotry of humankind.

The wedge of separation has
Split the body mind and soul;
Blinding us to solutions
That could make each person whole.

Where within human misery,
Can malice be allowed to die,
Changing all the judgements
That fostered an “eye for an eye.”?

Must unity come through disasters,
Making separation disappear,
Leaving all Earth’s children
The common bond of tears?

Or are we ready to let go
Of the inherited malice we bring.
Unhealed parts of our wounded souls,
And the fears to which we cling?

Jamie Samms in Earth Medicine

Malice does more than wound our human hearts. Consciously or unconsciously it twists and unbalances every relationship we try to build. We usually think of malice as a deliberate response. Is there such a thing as unconscious malice? Can an action that appears if not innocent, at least fairly innocuous be far more deliberate and hurtful than I meant it to be?