Collateral Impact by Brian Francis
It isn’t so much the noise that screams for help
It is the expression on the child’s face
While they ignore the distress they are causing
He and she scream in hushed tones
Dripping with toxic emotional waste
He and she fling their hands about in muted rage
Their expressions spewing forth awash with contempt
Neither listening to the words of the other
both going on about their own feelings and needs
totally seemingly unaware of the collateral damage
they have their own issues to address
he and she forging ahead on their own divergent paths
still clinging to the comfort of simple loathing
while sitting on the third chair strapped in a car seat
it finally screams a horrendous wail of pain and sorrow
a needful cry of abandoned love and confusion
and he and she stop
and they look down into the eyes of a child
shove a bottle into the wailing orifice
and turn to continue their tirades of love 09/09/2008 Posted on 09/10/2008 Copyright © 2025 Brian Francis
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 11/29/08 at 12:38 PM Little psyches (young children) absorb emotional vibrations and too often feel rejected or the cause. A forceful reminder that there are little minds and hearts taking in perhaps more than intended! The last line most ironic!(..."tirades of love".) |
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