Subjects and Objects (a poem)

We fail

one another 

through our 

insidious penchant, 

ravenous appetite 

to objectify others 

     who are subjects;

     agents and artists;

     authors and creators 

          of their own story 

treating them 

as if they are 

     nothing,

nothing more 

than things 

to be 

     used, 

     abused, 

     misused, 

     manipulated 

at our own discretion, 

for our own pleasure, 

for our own advancement, 

for our own benefit 

in the only story 

we have convinced ourselves matters, 

     our own story. 

This selfish,

  this self centered,

    this egoic 

behavior

     fed by 

     our anxieties,

     our insecurities,

     our fears

destroys

all life.

  — bshivers