As We Wish, As We Might

How often do you say you hate?
Do you say it every day?
Do you say it in the morning?
Do you say it on the way?
How often
do you say hate?

     The more we say hate
to describe how we feel about something
as banal as the design of new automobiles,
the more we diminish
and the more we dilute the significance
of the word–we give it a new use;
     shaping our perceptions
     and changing our directions–
     because hate is like love
it’s almost the same
in its focus in our mind, a locus
of awareness
It’s what’s in store 
It’s a door,

the word hate
and the more we say hate, the more that it swings
this door we push or we pull, 
     hold open or slam closed
     on all manner of things
But not both at once,
not open and closed,
     (though a small window as we shoulder the door,
the word hate
     Because hate is like love

Might it be good for a good purpose,
if put to good use?
     Like bullies and fascism,
and all the ways so many nice people
     collude
with their silence
as we love and we hate as we scroll and we swipe
through lists and catalogs, voting and shopping
As we wish
As we might