Russell Wardlow

if we can build buildings
and trade goods
with clear codes
and protocols
yet can not
agree on principle
the definitions
and the methodology
in carrying out
of justice
righteousness
and morality

then one can
simply deduce
we are not
just
righteous, nor
moral

what’s clear
is that we can define
and judge
with reckless abandon
as we are
grossly incapable
of living up to
standardized definitions
seeming more content
on knowing how
to classify
and instruct
but unwilling
to learn
and embody

the corrupt
can always be corrupted
even before
the corruption

the corruption
is reaction
of the
corrupted

whom are
in all actuality,
the corrupt

what then
is the catalyst
for the surfacing
of what was
already
lying beneath?

because that which
was seen
had been
but a smokescreen