Cruel Words Upon A Summer's Evening

Yesterday evening, harsh words drifted through the summer air. Voices of two women, brutal in their battery, stunning in their cruelty, I wondered, "are these coming from mother and daughter?" Perhaps they're romantic rivals. There are a multitude of possible roots, and it's likely I'll never know the reality. And I'm not sure I want a deeper engagement.

Yet the rage tinged brutality engaged thereby intrigued me, intellectually. Are the speakers aware of social corrosion taking over? Can they see the destruction brought about by their words? Do they care? And what does healing look like?

Ultimately, they're about being right, not about being effective. Damage was done, whether healed from or no. And we all lose when relationships corrode .

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Carl Setzer

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