Cleopatra

The slow poison
works its magic
without wonder
she's stung
strung from the tower
no remorse.

The Thing About Being Bullied

is you do feel sort of confused, foolish even, having that happen to you as an adult; how could this be? How could this person actually be acting and talking this way, and then blaming me? 

I don't want to have to set boundaries and assert my humanity this often, which is why that only becomes necessary when I am trapped by a bad neighbor or colleague...you know? I bet you know

Do you also know there's something just exhausting and degrading, with no fun included, about having to defend oneself one way or another, by design, as part of maintaining your paycheck, to have to somehow overcome the underlying insinuation that you, the target, are flawed in some inherent manner, no matter what you do, and there go those goalposts? As someone who watched people be bullied and then intervened when possible, I do feel like I have an objective understanding of this behavior, now turned on me, and I can't say it's not painful. Frazzling. 

The thing about bullying is it's an ugly way to treat another human being, conscious or not, fueled as this behavior of intimidation, of would-be authority, is by misanthropic beliefs that seem pretty tangible all of a sudden. I find belligerence and unconstructive and/or constant criticism particularly impossible to ignore as a once a teacher, always a teacher, not to mention I find the presence of scolding repulsive (while as a poet, I can't believe the scolders aren't embarrassed). 

Most teachers will not and cannot carry on that way, especially in person, before a room of dozens (think about it (tomatoes)), and most of the teachers I've known have been understanding and intuitive, natural qualities that cannot be taught in some ways, I suppose, and that also need to be much more prevalent.

On: Gratitude

Forever grateful I have a father who is such an empathetic, intelligent, thoughtful person that even on Father's Day, he is there to listen, a cornerstone of my very foundation, always.

Lilac

 

1. Wordless wars

are carried on

every day

Why give form

to chaos?

 

2. Subtle signals

tear away

at reason

 

3. Hollow laughter

pervades the air around you, getting

stoned on ambience:

The storm is cutting

a crooked path

to your front door.