Why We Clash
by Marco Capelli
We clash you and me.
First I thought because you are so different, you see.
But then after all the dust cleared
And the shrapnel was swept up into neat little tins
And all our respective allies’ bodies were policed up by loved ones—
Dogs and crows and old men with metal detectors and headphones
Closing the circle in little by little hoping to find a scrap or two,
And the grandmothers all weep over tea, saying
I Told You So: See? Nothing Was Accomplished Again;
Who’s Gonna Feed The Kids.
For the 432nd time,
It was then I realized:
The reason you and me,
We used up every bullet we had
Not because we’re so different, you see.
Because we’re mirror images, aren’t we?
Like Isaac and Ishmael maybe,
But who needs analogies when we’ve each got th’other?
We do kinda look alike, huh?
Besides all the acting, and talking
And walking like each other.
But enemy, my friend.
Can I ask you one question?
What kind of Creator lets us miss each other that many times?
Originally published in volume 4 number 5 of  Autumn Leaves magazine.