Like a Man Gone Mad: Poems in a New Century

Man Is the Only Animal Capable of Shame

98 Man Is the Only Animal Capable of Shame Man is the beast with red cheeks. Friedrich Nietzsche I watched on film a pride of lions feasting on a water buffalo they’d overwhelmed. They ripped and clawed the carcass into shreds. They cracked the bones. Not one was penitent. Later they slept or roamed or copulated in the open. No matter what they did, they did it in their naked skin and shamelessly. Not us. Consequence, not subsequence, defines our lives, and consequences mean that no one has the option of impunity. Our vices drive us to addiction or repentance. Killers, liars, thieves and traitors have been known to suffer genuine remorse when facing their accusers. This proves there still can be contrition even from the worst. Never to rollick like lions in public, we’re racked by appetites 99 and conscience, and the price for deviance is guilt. Anguish returns us to our suddenly awaiting lives where we’re still human after all. What saves us from the worst that we can be but shame? What keeps us always who we are but shame— the merciless justice of shame? ...