Those genes passed on to my child
To hide, burrow, quietly resist
Perhaps Holocaust genes
Although my grandfather chose to fight back
But in a very indirect way
Corp of Engineers being more of an intellectual pursuit
But still an active choice
When I would dig a hole
Like a field mouse
Decorating a small bunker
Waiting for the storms to pass
This is not a strategy
But rather a mechanism
To not face things head on
To fall off the sides
Like fringes of thread
Loose from the main directive
Not a tassel
Looking to tussle
Or get caught
Hanging around the perimeter
A frayed edge
Unnoticed
Falling to the ground
Guided to a corner
By the slow, steady breezes of foot traffic
Finding a crack in the molding
To slide under
Finding comfort in small spaces
Not to go too overboard
We are also a claustrophobic people
And do not like to be squeezed
If pressure is felt
On any one side
Greater than another
We tend to kick hard
Reverse the polarity
Push back against the tightness
While this may sound like a natural reaction
It is for certain very common
But admitting nature into the conversation
Is to put a peacock feather on it
To add the decoration of an underbite
Or even a plume
This is serious business
And the world is counting on our reaction right now
Do we fight
Do we duck and run
Do we quietly file into position
Or do we decorate
Our small space
And pretend you are not talking
Directly or indirectly
You are just not even talking
--
3.9.12
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