Just as it seemed impossible that
Something else would happen,
It did. Not wholly unexpected but
Entirely unwelcome, it quickly
Altered everything. Nobody was
Sure what to do but for a lone
Clarion, valiant, triumphant,
Unflappable, ignored by most for
More familiar, mundane hand
Wringing and lamentation.
The giant bird raised its wings and
Began flapping around in a dreadfully
Agitated fashion, scattering all manner
Of papers and sundries across the office.
Dodging the vortex of random projectiles,
Braving the windswept climes,
Bill from Accounting reached the culprit,
Soothingly petted its head, just a bad dream.
I never knew how excruciatingly
Uncomfortable things could get
Until I opened my mouth and let
My inner thoughts take flight.
The ensuing deluge of silence
Underscoring the deep rift
Like a jagged rupture in the
Landscape extending to the
Horizon and falling off the edge
To crash upon unyielding ground.
A person arrived at a wall,
Stared straight at it and said,
“This is a wall.”
Another person arrived at a wall,
Stared straight at it and said,
“I wonder what’s behind this wall.”
A third person arrived at a wall,
Looked to the right, looked to the left,
And walked around it.
There are times when my mind goes
Blank.
There are times when my heart goes
Numb.
There are times when my feelings
Hurt.
There are times when my anxieties
Crush.
There are times when my insecurities
Debilitate.
There are times when I consciously
Redirect.
And so he was asked if he
Would take a look at himself and
He graciously declined as he always
Had and kept living his life as he
Knew how. A time came when his
Mettle was tested by circumstance and
He was again encouraged to examine
Himself and he blithely put it off another
Day until it was time to pass and he
Lay alone wishing he understood
Who he was all these years and why
He hadn’t tried to find out.
In comes the destructor with
Righteous carriage and
Assured gait, a gift not
Beholden to human niceties or
Cumbersome compassion.
Methodically eviscerates all
He dislikes with swift saber
Strokes of skepticism and
Tantrum. He knows the way and
Will get it one way or another.
Waiting on heightened alert,
Ready to spring into action in a
Millisecond against foes real and
Imagined.
Shadows appear where none exist,
Certainty eclipses rationality,
Bravado masks fear unattended and
Believed.
It was clear from the very beginning
That something wasn’t quite right;
An insincere smile, a stare that
Lasted uncomfortably long.
Inevitably, inexorably, the tone changes.
Talons emerge, words more savage.
Spitting, hissing, leering, the battle for
Dominance commences.
Overconfidence brings its sister
Insecurity to the party. Unable to
Subdue the unease, they proceed to
Spread their discord.
