poetry

the cautious committee

the cautious committee

the committee commits to take no action that might possibly be construed as offensive
the committee thus takes no action
except to endlessly examine whether a potential action has the potential to offend
the committee does not trust anyone’s judgment as to what might be offensive
(including its own)
so it will strip all warm, individual messages
of their warmth and individuality
before sending the sanitized versions
out into the world
where they will register with the cold neutral resonance
of a clean computer-generated auto-response

the committee respectfully requests that it be forgiven
for not engaging in the potentially perilous act
of accepting the crushing responsibility
of humbly requesting forgiveness

poetry

on going separate ways

on going separate ways

I expected strained
awkward uncertain unbalanced
tenuous
but was not prepared
for nothingness instead
not even registering
on her map of feeling
I’m sure as usual
he’s disappointed in us all

the breeze settles to a humid stall
and even the waves refuse to break
night bugs keep up their cadence
regardless what I do or don’t do
night deepens
and the days go on