“Lizard Brain”

A clear objective—survival       
Tuck head down and traipse through desert sands—       

            An Arrakis boiling with religious certitudes,     

                      ancient political nuances   

Multitudinous paths leading to destruction       
Ignore the razor winds that slice through reason   
And only hone instinct   

Survive   
Clutch the knife of insanity in your righteous fist   
Rip into the enemy’s flesh   
Retaliate—an eye for an eye—until all are blind   
Blades become bombs   
Homes reduce to rubble housing mutilated families   

Logic stumbles through the wreckage   
And gets lost in the stench of decay   
Becomes overburdened and overrun by molecular rage—   

            (Passed down from evangelist to fanatic     

                       to zealot to extremist)   

Until it dries up and dies   

 

Copyright 2014 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman 

 

 

"Tone of Voice"

I’m okay, fine       

she whispers without eye contact       

I’ve got it handled       

Don’t worry       

He misses the hollowness of her words        

overlooks her subtle cues—       

her Woman Speak       

She tucks her feet onto the couch,     

pulls herself into a tight ball under a red throw       

stares at the television without seeing       

sighing deeply       

Oblivious, he flips the channel       

to his station       

assuming—       

all’s right       

content to listen to her words       

instead of her tone of voice       

Her annoyance and sadness battle across her features       

surreptitiously, she wipes her silent tears       

waits for him to notice her heaviness       

His attention rivets on the game       

its motion mesmerizes him      

takes him away and isolates her     

She grabs hold of anger over sorrow       

indignation throws her off the couch       

propels her into their bedroom       

fuels the door slam        

He sits with bewilderment      

lost         

Cautiously, he approaches the closed door     

tentatively tapping       

Can I do something?       

No. I’m okay, fine        

I’ve got it handled       

Don’t worry       

He opens the door anyway       

pulls her into his arms       

In tenderness, he wipes the tears from her face       

We’ll handle it       

he soothes and reassures with understanding       

Copyright 2011 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

"One-hundred Degrees in the Shade"

Dust chases us down the road   

engulfs the car   

swirling like powdered sugar blown from a birthday cake   

coating our sandaled feet as we step into the furnace   

The dogs retreat to bunk bed and chair   

anticipating evening’s approach—   

a breeze, teasing and seductive   

Buffalo grass, brittle reminders of Spring’s bounty   

squat in death   

Cedars, tipped in brown and rust,   

finger summer’s dragon breath in search of moisture   

The naked sky, adorned only by a relentless sun   

yearns for bird song   

Silence, even, languishes in the oppressive heat   

Live Oaks, gnarled limbs supplicating to the cloudless sky   

plea for rain   

Wash away the sins of the world   

 

Copyright 2011 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

"Flaming Liberal"

 

Hair afire   

eyes ablaze      

bleeding heart worn on my sleeve        

believing in changing my world      

one deed at a time        

hands open in kindness    

soul accepting alternatives      

mind embracing the strength of diversity     

 

Hair afire     

eyes ablaze   

bleeding heart worn on my sleeve      

expecting chivalry and honor       

even among the thieves      

hands sustaining the destitute      

soul offering them hope       

mind implementing the strategies of success        

 

Hair afire     

eyes ablaze      

bleeding heart worn on my sleeve     

acknowledging the flaws     

within the order    

hands mending the tears     

soul nursing lost courage      

mind deciphering the woes of our world

      

Hair afire    

eyes ablaze  

bleeding heart worn on my sleeve     

ignoring taunts and insults     

from conformists      

hands reaching for harmony    

soul seeking tolerance     

mind exploring multiple paths for our destiny   

     

Copyright 2011 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

"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