Bite your tongue

Hold it all in

Can’t be the one

To make the blade swing

It’s not your right

Though the lies abound

Stay out of sight

And don’t make a sound

Don’t type a word

When your fingers are itching

Though it seems so absurd

To ignore all the bitching

 

To admit the tide

Of misplaced rage

To not give your side

And stay locked in your cage

Graffiti on bathroom stalls

Layers of paint will never conceal

Like it’s daubed on your own house’s walls

And oh, how dirty you feel

 

And they’re not about you

That’s the craziest part

Of comments on which one can stew

The thorns aren’t meant for your heart

 

“Love me, love me

Pity me, pity me

See me, see me

Oh God just see me.

Validate me

At the expense of all others.”

They say what they want with impunity

Righteous fury fans their flame

Invoking the highest authority

In their quest to lay the blame

 

And what remains when the die is cast

When the screen has powered down?

A sickly worry you can’t move past

And a lake in which to drown

 

This is what stands in our place today

Pray one day it will not

The self-righteous hammer and lack of fair play

Causing beautiful visions to rot

 

Thanks for reading,

You can check out more of my poetry by following the links below.

The Scene Within – a poem

The Ovens are Cold – a poem

Haiku-ing at the National Gallery

What the Haiku! – The Complete Collection

Reversals of Fortune – two poems

Grass Between the Floorboards – a poem