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pride

I wish there was a different word. Another way of expressing the feeling of self-esteem that gets beaten down and oppressed by people who think themselves superior.
People use the word to claim their favorite football team is the best, their religion is the real one, their country is the greatest... But pride is a monster that hants the human soul.

It took me years of contemplation after arguing the point with my brother. I was so certain that pride was a good thing, that it inspired people to accomplish great things, things they could take pride in. I was sure that it was a wonderful thing to feel proud of one's children for the daily accomplishments in life as they grew. All of these things I thought were worthy of recognition.
But that argument got stuck in my head for the longest time until one day I read a sermon by MLK jr called "The Drum Major Instinct".
It hit me like a revelation of self-evident truth.
Though King never mentions the word pride in his sermon, it is within each line as thick as
Honey and just as sticky.
I have written several poems about pride since that day. I feel compelled to repeat myself each time I hear the word raised. I know that people mean for it to be a positive beacon of hope, but each time it is like a lightning bolt through my heart.
I hear the words of the Lord each time, "forgive them Father, they know not what they do"!

If one is able to see how pride is what filled them with hatred in the first place, perhaps the clarity of that vision could help to see why pride is one of the seven deadly sins and why I concluded after years of meditation on it, that pride is one of the three seeds of hatred. The very thing you embrace to lift yourself up from an eternity of discrimination and suppression is the tool they use to crush your love.

I fear pride will be the undoing of humanity and most will never see it coming. Makes me wish for the bliss of ignorance to hide it from myself...

JJ
Written by Poetryman
Published
Author's Note
The Drum Major Instinct
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