He sat down with his child,
Who looked up at him expectantly,
For what was billed as a
Friendly game but rapidly
Descended into a sordid battle
To assert supremacy and
Bolster self-worth at the expense of
A trusting, unsuspecting victim.
The merciless vanquishing of
A defenseless bird at the whim of an
Insatiably wanting coward.
Entangled in a battle of words,
Each straining to gain the
Upper hand, everything and
Nothing at stake, mercilessly
Thrusting, gouging, flailing,
Writhing to gain advantage,
Position, supremacy.
A clash with no winners,
One perishes, the other
Hobbles away to dispatch
Another day. Unthinking,
Uncaring, a feral organism
Protecting its young, twisted
Mouth, livid eye, interlude.
Thirty minutes away but
Unfathomably remote.
A vividly painful memory,
Times spent anxiously vying for
Approval, a pathetic dance for a
Morsel of affirmation.
Insatiable craving for attention
Heightened by ruthless
Absence of empathy.
In the distance all things
Recede as if they had
Never existed.
I don’t know how many
Ways I can say this.
A blank look,
Devoid of any understanding.
We’ve gone over this
A million times.
Another imperceptive retort,
Deflecting truth.
I can’t make someone see
What they won’t.
Silence.
Distance.
He waited many minutes before
Clicking the send button.
She was both surprised and elated
When the message arrived.
They met in a small restaurant,
So many memories.
They bid each other a fond
Goodnight.
I could write
The most eloquent
Speech, carefully
Enumerating every single
Exhaustively reviewed
And edited detail,
Backing up facts with
Copious evidence,
A genuine effort to
Explain my point of view,
Or simply speak from
The heart, sharing
What I feel inside,
And it wouldn’t matter.
They had the most superficial of
Relationships where they talked about
Mundane topics and tiptoed around everything
Else. Stifling whiffs of decay and disease
Barely contained by clattering lid.
In the name of civility they forgot to relate and
Share what was really going on, acknowledge the
Sleeping giant, the misunderstandings and
Resulting rancor that formed the glacier.
Small talk prevailed, reality restrained.
Walking together
Through the park,
Admiring all the
Lovely trees and
Beautiful animals,
Talking about anything
And everything.
Her house in the
Distance, he wishes
He could have said
What he wanted to
But couldn’t, an
Uncomfortable silence
Filling the room
Instead, the weight of
Irresolution, impossible
To ignore or push aside.
