When I Was A Kid

When I Was a Kid 

When I was a kid 

I would ask why is there 

so much hate, death, and war? 

The answers given then 

were as vague and complicated 

as the ones still casually tossed 

about for these many years. 

When I was a kid, especially 

during times of escalating 

teenage angst, I would answer 

my own question, with

the fatalistic “I am dead.” 

With hindsight’s gift, 

I understand this was not 

a wish to experience death, 

as much as it was the stark

realization that these same 

questions would follow me 

into adulthood for many years. 

When I was a kid, I had not 

yet learned the art of flipping 

the question to yield positive 

results? 

Staring into the angry face 

of this twenty-first century, 

I now see the questions 

reveal the answers sought 

when I was a kid. 

Where is compassion? 

Where is understanding? 

And lastly, where is love?

©Paul Goldman May 25, 2022