"Poison"

Inside

                        buried under smiles

                                                as innocent as childhood

                        hidden by energy

                                                that eats the inner core

                        enveloped with laughter

                                                tinged by hysteria

            where no one can see, or touch, or feel

                                                the infinite coldness

Waiting

                        surrounded by darkness

                                                like a corpse in the grave

                        clamped down by a vise

                                                whose claws rip and tear

                        forced into submission

                                                until no one’s looking

            deep down in the well of pitch, and stagnation, and fear

                                                the infinite coldness

Outside

                        revealed at last in the eyes

                                                through condemnation and
                                                                                    indignation

                        recognized by the putrid stench

                                                of pettiness and intolerance

                        exposed in each word and act

                                                through acid hatred

            an eruption of vomitus bile—black and caustic

                                                the infinite coldness

Copyright 1997 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman