the last indignity

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Why am I angry at you
When it is you who have been hurt?
I feel like telling you to suck it up
By screaming it at you—
If only hoping to forestall
Your tears, which unnerve me
When I, too, must face this pain.
I want you to be strong for me,
To tell me that someone can face this evil
With stout heart and brave shoulders
And overcome.
Instead, I must be strong and hold up
The dam; restrain the dirge of tears
Seeking to overwhelm and drown me
In despair.
Such hopelessness is useless
And ineffective.
So I am angry at you instead.
Angry that you are vulnerable,
Angry that you are victimized,
Angry that you stand a receptacle of pain.
So I will dismiss you as an ordinary trifle,
Make light of you in conversation,
And beg your resigned shoulders
For forgiveness
As I look into your knowing eyes
In the mirror.


a division of mack united, inc.