TUESDAY THOUGHTS : POETRY PROMPT

THE AFTERMATH 

My delayed response has surprised me

I asked myself, “How do you feel?”

“You’ve been awfully mute.

Don’t you have any thoughts?

Is there something you’d like to reveal?”

Then, I realized, I truly felt nothing 

Is it age, or just the results of

Having history with dashed expectations 

Or protecting the peace that I love?

Am I sad, disappointed, or worried?

Am I shocked, heartbroken, or grieved?

Would a preference for hate and corruption 

Be a choice that I would have believed?

But it’s easy to note what has happened 

When you’ve seen it so often before 

It takes on a normalcy, only this time

It just doesn’t scare you anymore 

You can’t bother to fret over evil

It’s exhausting— perhaps that’s the scheme

To keep you upset and distracted 

Every waking hour, and in your dreams

I sense, a divine plan is brewing 

And I’ve been made keenly aware

This fight isn’t for me to take on

I’ve no energy left to spare 

There are no more reserves of outrage

No more stockpiles of grief

Gone are all remnants of anger; rejection 

And frankly, it’s quite a relief 

So, I’m gonna sit back and observe from

The comfort of my aged position 

That all of my ancestors knew full well

And practiced with stoic precision 

They knew when to cease all their warning

How to step back, and watch things play out

They knew not to waste time in squabbling

Or wallow in fear and doubt: 

“Uh uh. Don’t tell ‘em nothin’. 

A hard head makes a soft behind.

They’ll learn— one way, or the other 

You don’t have to pay them no mind.”

The seeming indifference I do feel 

Is quite possibly, confidence 

That the owner of vengeance is real

And I have earned enough sense

To sleep, since He never retires

And remember, he won’t always chide

With forces determined to trouble

Oppress, undermine, and divide

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