"How Easy It Is" by Albert Goldbarth from Word of Mouth (Reading Response)

I get queasy by the mention of someone being slit, but besides that part, I dig this poem.  A family is murdered and "half the planet" attempts to confess that they are the ones who murdered them.  Of corse all of the people who try to confess are not involved with the massacre, and are paranoid.  One lady thinks she must have killed the family because she gets uneasy around her knives; another guy says he must be the culprit because he has nightmares.  These people realising "how easy it is to damage a family" makes me think of how everyone is capable of whatever the next person is capable of.  People often slander others for committing murder or other crimes that are majorly looked down upon, but what people don't think about is that they could have easily been the very person to kill another human being.  If only they would have been raised by abusive parents, or formed a mental illness, or had been subjected to any other circumstances that leed people to kill, they too could have gone down the same path as that murderer who's behind bars today.  All the people in the poem realize this, so any sign of suspicion causes them to point the finger at themselves because any of us could easily murder someone.  All it takes to begin is a thought.  This poem demonstrates how a piece of literature can get readers to ponder serious topics and take a look at themselves.