"This Week"

Words

         Batter—

                  Become wounding fists

                           Punching gut

Fury

         Rages—

                  Mauls rational thought

                           Devouring differences

Cruelty

         Cuts—

                  Cultivates hateful insanity

                           Breeding spite

I recoil in disbelief

         Evaluate—

                  Nurture my flagging sensibilities

                           Defending choice

I fold into myself

         Protect—

                  Shield my diminishing spirit

                           Blocking pain

I triage my wounds

         Heal—

                  Bind my bleeding-heart liberalism

                           Seeking restoration

Copyright 2018 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman