Simple Math

"Why are people mean to each other?"
The kid asked,
In the middle of class,
Wide-eyed and earnest.
I had no response,
Because what do you say,
When each and every day,
You wonder the same thing?
Perhaps the answer is with the 12 Tribes,
Scattered and wandering,
Dividing and conquering,
Forever doomed to clash.
Maybe we should blame it on Babylon,
This forgetting our sisters and brothers,
This one against the others,
And the multiplying confusion.
Our preference for sects and gangs,
Perhaps ingrained in us as animals.
Yet we are not cannibals,
But we sure love to eat our own!
Why are people mean to each other?
We should surely ask,
Because the divisions mask,
Our strengths for working side by side.

3-17-19