Voices
Laurence Overmire
Man:
I am imprisoned
I suffocate here
Pubescent fingers clutch
Round my throat
And stop the sound.
Child:
You thrust me forward
I don’t understand
The ordered world
I cannot cope
Let me find a corner
And hide.
The child must die
And allow me life
Or trip and fall
Indecisive folly
Afraid to challenge
Afraid to conquer.
But the child is the heart
Kindness without question
Natal innocence
The seed of being
No judgment
No anger
No vengeance to reap
Kill the child?
The man is the will
The core
The root
And cannot grow
In depleted soil
The aim
The ambition
Are driven through him
He must command
Or all will die.
Take hold
Together
Lead then if you must
The prison is yours
Claim it.
Dare to leap first
And the child will follow
Without him
Your carcass is hollow.
