James Moore Poet Narrative

Notes About The Poem

The Good Heart

("The Heart of It #4", 2007, original oil)

The Good Heart

My hunch is probably everyone thinks they have a good heart
Since we are all humans with some degree of empathy.
But while it’s empathy that makes us feel good helping others
It's also empathy that leads us to lynch them.
And it’s shown that when push comes to shove 
Nine out of ten of your good-hearted neighbors
Will lynch you if you threaten their peace and security
And end up on their sh*t list.

So there is the paradox of being human,
That even the good habitually do bad
And even if we are in agreement 
That we are good or share good intentions 
(say, to benefit and avoid harming others)
Then what we each choose to do
In the cause of the good
Will often be different
Even drastically so.

This paradox is what divides nations, 
Families, political parties and religions.
It is what divides us within us,
What gives us doubt and confusion,
And ultimately makes us 
The humans we are.

But that one out of ten
Who doesn’t join the lynching,
Now, that’s the human we should aspire
To become.

(1/6/24)

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