From Violets To Violence

Faces and figures that only he can see. Heart sounds emit from his friend, the radio. The past and the present are entwining him As a once-hopeful future is lost in the din. Upon dawn’s early light and throughout his days, now, He knows to bear witness to all that they say now From, “You are waste” and “Nobody wants you” To, “Take your life now. You know that you want to!” Shadowy forms on the ceiling and walls Reach down to him: his tormentors’ calls Where light is the dark and dark is the light; Where night is the day and day is the night. It’s a foregone conclusion, these garbled voices, Bedlam’s intrusions interrupting his choices. The velveteen violets too calmly revealed Will soon be replaced by violence concealed.