Poem: "What Hatred Never Learns"

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls, inspired by a comment from zeeth_kyrah.  It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.


"What Hatred Never Learns"
-- a villanelle


Wisdom often teaches what hatred never learns:
War is not peacekeeping, and safety never comes.
If you fight fire with fire, the whole world burns.

Some leaders bark and bicker, while the chaos churns;
They think the land will prosper underneath their thumbs.
Wisdom often teaches what hatred never learns.

These are the wages that abuse of power earns:
What the leadership does, society becomes.
If you fight fire with fire, the whole world burns.

If leaders wield compassion, acting on concerns,
Integrity will flourish; tyranny succumbs.
Wisdom often teaches what hatred never learns.

Priests or kings or generals tramping down the ferns,
It doesn't really matter whence the power comes:
If you fight fire with fire, the whole world burns.

Peace will always flee from the hand that grasps and yearns,
But wait a bit -- you'll find it, sitting down like chums.
Wisdom often teaches what hatred never learns.
If you fight fire with fire, the whole world burns.