Poem: In the Kingdom of Invisible Threats

 

In the Kingdom of Invisible Threats

 

sly anxious heads

scramble in official indecency,

trapped and gruff

under a suffice of polite surface.

 

such neat, preened miens,

postured to deny any garland of greed;

as if the world turned on a daily smile,

and gutting the future was rational.

 

when not asked, they say,

yes yes yes,

a freudian slip,

obeisant and automatic,

as if the taste was intense.

lies can be toothsome in their cruelty 

if pretended not to be had

by those who inflict.

 

better to toe-kiss the haves

than the cesspool of the ruck.

peckpeckpeckpeckpeckpeckpeck

on the jangly tangle of the texts;

and toss that rare honest thought

deep into a prison of bland dooms,

far beneath you.

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3/20/26 .. more eds, no surcease

8/1/25 changed a few words

7/1/25 ... heavy mods