The Quiet Things That Undo US

Death by one thousand papercuts;

Failure at the hands of fifty glances.

Entranced with the fear of tragedy

And suffocated by 300 million political stances.

Afraid of gun violence

And the murderous eyes of a sadist;

The latest form of cancer in the air—

But what kills us is status.

Distraught by politicians & rhetorical tactics;

Shaken under the potential of another foreign war,

Or global warmth. Or aliens.

The sky caving in.

Yet it is our thoughts in the night we cannot endure.

Its racism. Lynching.

Internment camps & the like.

Despite persistent evidence,

We cannot see it’s our rejection of light.

Active, aggressive, vehement hatred.

Guns. Knives. Wives in submission.

Nuclear fission. Economic oppression—

Rather than our limited vision.

My view is not too big;

Goals too lofty & heavy,

Levied by circumstances that weigh on ambition.

It is my soul’s inability to remain steady.