A Human Problem

Complicated they say
and it is
but not in sunlit 
spider web wonder
nor in "how many pennies 
are in this jar?"
Not like "why do dogs die?" 
or "where do babies come from?"
not easily legible 
on the cold surface 
of human cruelty 
We witness and we suffer
blunt or sharp edged 
dumb or thoughtless or cruel
Selfish armchair Darwinists
elbowing at the trough
snouts dirty with complicity
Or just lack of time
lack of interest
lack of concern
an overabundance of fear
about personal safety
about financial solvency
about catching something 
from just looking 
at someone
It's not ten dollars 
to a Winnebago driving stranger
it might be a sob story 
and a worn out face
a one dollar paper 
written over and over
handed out in the night
cement stained and reeking
It's complicated
the ways we try or don't
walking past one another
head in the clouds
or in a book
or on the phone
head somewhere else
so we can survive
and not die because of others
shouldn't be so difficult