Consider the Source
by Peggy Schimmelman / June 9th, 2019
Is it possible this evil
that feeds on humanity
has roots so deep
intertwined and invasive
new laws and armed guards
won’t defeat it?
Burn the leaves. Go ahead.
And chop up the branches
but until you rip out the roots
they’ll wind down gutters
and push through cracks:
malignant, poisonous
insanity.
Pass laws
arm the guards
burn the leaves
chop the branches
but ignore the roots
at our peril.
Insanity is among us
and coming soon
armed and soulless
to a synagogue
a mosque
a government building
a public event
or school near you.
Are we terrified yet?
Are we furious enough?
And if not
how much more will it take?
I wonder.
Peggy Schimmelman is a San Francisco Bay Area writer. Her work includes the novel Whippoorwills, the poetry chapbooks Tick-Tock (Finishing Line Press) and Crazytown (Writing Knights Press) and the novella One Day You’re a Diamond. She is co-author of Long Stories Short, by Wild Vine Writers. Her poetry and short fiction have appeared in North American Review, Dissident Voice, Sparkle ‘n Blink, WinningWriters.com, NovellaT, Aleola Journal of Poetry and Art, Pacific Review, Comstock Review, Wild Musette Journal, 100wordstories.org and others.
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This article was posted on Sunday, June 9th, 2019 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.
