Madness in the Multitude

When turbulence reaches a flu-fever pitch,
And neighbor stabs neighbor with toxic barbs;
When anger replaces cool counter-talk,
How can we as nation or species go on?
Insularity feeds on its own fecal waste
And amplifies resentfulness. In such weather,
Sleet-storms of vileness and revulsion,
Docility and weasel-words are swept aside.
Firm and dispassionate sermons are needed
To shore up the levees and stanch the flow
Of caustic inanities issuing from
Mouths engaged in cruel recitals;
Their heartfelt but corrosive ejecta
Are byproducts of decaying souls.