Zoo

[Note: this poem is an abecedarian - a 26-line poem where each line begins with a successive letter of the alphabet.]

After the darkness breaks, and
before the violent armies
clash at sunrise, will you
dally to watch them, to
engage them? Will you open your breast to
fear and let it
gorge itself upon you? Or will you
hinder its progress, deny its
impact, believe that true
justice is easy, that the
kindling for a
luscious flame is
mediocrity? It is
not. It never was. The
object is
peace, the
quiet peace of the
rested, of the weary, of the
singularly afraid that extend their arms to
touch, and through touching, to
understand: life is not
violent. Life is not a
war. Life has no
xplanation.
you and I are bestial, trapped in this
zoo, fantasizing that we’re free.


~04/09