Playground names that don’t break bones

but lodge beneath the skin

 

Teenage taunts that build a wall and

haunt the life still to be lived     

 

Endlessly repeated unless we break the loop

 

Malintent, working torment, war of words

and power games, 9-5 hostility

 

Cunning insult greased by wine, each line etched

with fear and fright of losing face and shine

 

Endlessly repeated unless we break the loop

 

Weakness we should understand, why the

underhanded snake behaves in such a cruel way

 

Emerges from a house of hurt where scabs are picked

repeatedly, granulating pain

 

Endlessly repeated unless we break the loop

 

The void so urgently concealed merely reveals

the sad and aching child inside

 

Endlessly repeated until we break the loop

 

Caustic, corrosive, abrasive, defensive -

this mordant mouthing attempts to

replace all the pain and the fear,

the dread and despair.

Display to intimidate, aggravate,

bait and coerce;

cajole and provoke,

to dominate, place

the self in a chain

of command with no rear and no front.

Never to liberate

self or another,

imprison the weakness and feelings

of bullies who bully because

they were shown.

 

 

L   /   O   /   O   /   P         

 

 

Break   the   loop