People like us

Don’t get to say sorry

So we don’t

When we hand an ice-cream to a lonely kid

They cringe

When we wolf down the old man’s food

He nods

People like us

Lurk in the shadows

Waiting for someone who will let us perch our booted feet by the fire

Then we suck the life out of their soul

While they sleep

People like us

Get invited to parties

Only because parties need chaos

And we are chaos

We are cans brimming with gasoline

Boxes packed with dynamite

People like us

Keep the company of people like us

Marry and sire people like us

Vile people

Ugly people

We don’t complain

We have our assignment

People like us

Are alive

Only because no one will have us buried in their backyard

And no one will brave the darkness long enough to pull the trigger

We exist

So people can believe in saints

Without us, no one would paint angels

And churches would go out of business

We are

Why kids draw their curtains at dusk

Why their parents keep the closets locked

And why the farmers leave the open field early

The blunt ones call us scum

The scum of the earth

The poisoned fruit

The lowest form of life

The scared ones call us different

Whatever

We are the fanged dragon lurking in a baby’s crib

The raging wolf howling in the park

The slithering serpent sleeping in a bed of fur

People need people like us

Even though they don’t know it

Because without us there is no hurt

And without hurt, there is no joy

We are death

So they can find thrill in life

Hate

So they can comprehend love

Scorn

So they can recognize praise

We are blue Mondays

And stormy weather

We are why they look forward to the heat of the summer sky

And why they ravish it when it comes

People like us

Are thrill seekers and thrill takers

We are the villains in more than a couple of stories

And we are not sorry

Because we are what makes the stories worth telling.

Photo by Rahul Pariharacodu on Unsplash