A lovely family of
Birds arrives to
Enjoy the season.
Chattering cheerfully,
Snacking on blossoms,
Socializing enthusiastically,
Brimming with life.
Optimistic games played
Amidst the branches,
Passing days enjoyed
To their fullest.
Before long they leave,
The passing of time,
Fleeting, evanescent.
He doesn’t ask questions
Because he’s afraid
Of the answers he
Might hear.
This leaves only one option:
Talk all the time,
Fill up the space
With shallow blather.
At least this way,
He assures himself,
They won’t
Be on to him.
A superficial being
Desperately trying
To avoid
Looking at itself.
The inspiring resilience of
Those who endure unimaginable
Horror at some point in life
And refuse to remain bound by
Dread, realizing instead that
There is more to life than
Settling into the lowest hollow,
Rising to heights of limitless,
Healing, love and peace.
They meet at their
Favorite restaurant but
There’s not much to
Say and hasn’t been
For some time now.
Staring at their
Plates, moving their
Food around, waiting
For something that
Won’t come.
They both remember
Vivid conversations,
Ready laughter,
Looking forward to
Seeing each other.
Made to feel
Exceedingly small,
Unimportant,
An afterthought,
In his formative years.
Dominated, controlled,
Berated, violated.
Left to fend for himself
Without any sense
Of direction,
Set loose
With jagged protrusions
That slash the
People he comes
In contact with.
An arrangement where we
Have no choice but
To conform to survive,
Think of ourselves
In terms of a group,
Embrace tribalism,
Accept dysfunction
As normal,
Our view of ourselves
Filtered through the
Unmet needs of others,
Expected to
Perpetuate the debacle
Or be cast out.
They walk into the place
For the first time in
Many years, expecting the
Same feelings to wash
Over them: youth, excitement,
Spontaneity, life in
Bloom and effervescence;
They quickly realize you
Can’t recreate what was
Once there, and locales
Like this only welcome
You once before moving on.
Walking into a room,
Unpleasant realization,
No one else like you,
No one shares any of
Your sensibility.
Unnuanced,
Coarse environment,
Guarded people
Hiding behind walls of
Small talk.
They sit down to
Play a game and it
Quickly descends into
A nightmarish battle
Between two people who
Feel inadequate unless
They are destroying
Someone else.
