A poem about projection, conditioning, kindness, and the strange contradictions of being human. A dark-feminine dissection of what shapes us — and what we refuse to see.

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Human Nature

by Shelly Moore Caron ©️ 2025

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I really was only ever just being kind.

There were no ulterior motives I ever had in mind.

It’s just how I am, you see – it’s in my grand design.

Though I understand your reaction’s been shaped by humankind.

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You said, “I’d rather someone be rude than put on a face and be fake.”

It occurred to me your insinuation was that I was making this mistake.

That I aimed to placate, to sugarcoat it like a cake.

I assure you, my dear—in this story, I am not the snake.

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Psychology 101 says we hate in others what we refuse to see in us.

Like those who rage at rainbows or shout opinions far too much.

I once saw a man, red-faced and steaming, over a rainbow painted bus—

decorated for special-needs kids, meant only to earn their trust.

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If something steals your peace in such an unforgiving way,

it might be time to ask where your roots might lay.

I am Hermetic by nature—believing in both the yay and the nay.

All things exist together: the night embraces day.

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Rigidity is taxing—it never gives, it only takes.

It’s also revealing—you’ve not strayed far from the comfort of your lane.

A narrow worldview punishes, it diminishes the brain.

Open yourself wide to both the scary and mundane.

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Study your own nature, the patterns which you’ve saved.

That’s all we are, really—hard drives existing day to day.

Steeping in what shapes us, the soup from which we’re made.

If you’ve lived in chicken broth, you’ll likely smell that way.

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Remove the cuffs that bind you—take the blindfold off your eyes.

Breathe deeper than you ever have and gaze up at the skies.

The neverending blue of day, the black expanse of night—

the proof of our insignificance which packs quite the bite.

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Understand completely—we’re on a floating fucking rock.

We pay taxes, love, and die—but in truth, we’re all livestock.

Animals among the rest, with made up rules and ticking clocks.

Humble yourself deeply and know—

your legacy

is being shaped

by how you talk.

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