trying for a little more structure…prompt: toxic
You speak a poison with your voice
without a thought for how it spreads.
Unlike a virus, make a choice,
a stealthy creep to other heads.
A covered mouth would save us all,
instead you choose to open wide;
each word spews forth with bitter gall
and ripples soon become a tide.
Unfocused anger, snide remarks,
an upturned mouth now flattened out.
The watch pot is stirred, the fire sparks,
once hopeful hearts now touched by doubt.
I ask the question to the light.
Why is it hard to cling to good,
so easy to lay down the fight
and let a sadness chill the mood.
Oh what we’d hold by building up,
instead of always breaking down;
medicine to an empty cup.
Can peace be catching where there’s none?
Kind of a dark piece, a little spark sprinkled at the end, hesitating, unsure… Beautifully shared.
thank you – it really isn’t meant to be quite so dark, more an observation and a wish 🙂
very nice. the structure made for a nice sound as I read it aloud.
I’m curious though…did you purposely miss the last rhyme to make a point with your last line/question? in my head as I approached the last line I was expecting “found”–though not a perfect rhyme for down it had a similar sound. regardless it really flowed beautifully
hmmm that would have made a better rhyme – I confess I had not thought of it. None sounded similar enough and gave the ending I wanted staying with the 8 syllables. I may take another look at it later. Thanks!
I think the subject suited the tighter structure perfectly..’toxic’ words spoken with care are more frightening than those messily spewed out..it brought to mind political speech..and defintely had gravitas..Jae
I was so focused on the smaller group situation I didn’t even think about politics though it certainly could be. I was kind of proud of me – I even used punctuation this time which I tend to ignore! Some people just seem to go through life tight-lipped – not just glass half empty, but eyeing the glass, suspicious of it’s lack of cleanliness or certain that whatever it contains will not be to their liking…