hurt people hurt people

Hurt people hurt people
they get sent to war
paid to hurt people
by hurt people
who defend their right
to make hurt people
hurt people
who are hurting people
because they need to be seen
to pay for hurting people
and when they come back
they hurt themselves
because they see
that even unhurt people hurt people
in peace just as in war
and they’re so used
to seeing hurt people really hurting
that they lose sight
of how someone hurts
so they hurt themselves
to make absolutely sure.

Hurt people hurt people
whereas children love people
but hurt people
hurt children
and once they’ve hurt them
they tell them they mustn’t talk about it
or they’ll hurt them even more
because they were hurt
when they were children.

Hurt people hurt people
and when they grow up
they look for places and jobs
where they can hurt people
like schools and prisons
pubs and supermarkets
they’ll go anywhere they can
to get paid and applauded
for hurting people.

Hurt people hurt people
it’s contagious
like yawning
a learnt thing
like copying
an addictive thing
like people-watching
and once they’re on the journey
of rediscovery
seeing things through the suffering
of equally vulnerable others
guilt rips up their chances of forgiveness
and there’s no turning back.

Hurt people hurt people
they do it out of spite
to deflect the hurt
the hurt people passed on
that follows them around
when the scars on their arms
just aren’t enough
to take the pain away.

Hurt people hurt people
but there are those
who will never hurt people
God’s babies
the devil’s daughters
and the world would do well to listen
but the ones who could make the difference
have to defend those
who were hurt by their own.

The police don’t like hurt people
they mean forms and work
and searching inside themselves
and that’s where it ends
lost property
and they can’t do anything to help
when they mention
that the names of the hurt people
who hurt them
are the same hurt people
who pay for their drinks
and their little smoking houses
and their lovely children’s obedience
the same hurt people
who make the new rules
and appear on the telly
to tell the world
how sickened they are
by the latest revelations.

Hurt people hurt people
and they know who to hurt
they see the same sadness
as the little boys and girls
they once were
they know who they are
it’s like looking in the mirror
fair game to share among their own
to spread across double-beds
and relive their nightmares
revelling in the thought
that they’ll never go away
as they drive home the message
taking pictures of their mice
to keep them from squealing.