What’s Just Peace

Cruelty, including yours,
Depends on ethics, deploys
Its own distinctive morals—

Just as the thought of heaven
Needn’t be fully trusted
For it to bring some comfort,

You needn’t convince yourself
Fully you’re not being cruel,
Only that you’re justified.

Justification brings peace.
Just cause, just punishment, just
Enforcing proper ethics—

Each can soothe the savage breast
While releasing savageness.
It’s partly just perspective,

But it’s not quite as simple
As saying every side just
Has its own views and reasons.

Without moral reasoning,
Cruelty would just flare up
Into smoky emotion,

As quickly gone out as fire
In a lightning-candled pine
Drenched in a steady downpour.

Morals lead cruelty on,
Feed it dry grass and tinder,
Let it rage until it makes

Its own weather, devouring
Great forests of bystanders,
Leaving just ruins, just peace.