“Let no man wait within” ~ Thomas Merton

He does not need to swallow bombs.  He’s loved

Enough.  They taught him worse than Molotov

Combustions.  Those he loved . . . rejected, shoved

Or silently exploded, “Bugger off.”

He chewed on fuses.  They of course did what

A fuse would do.  They lit the fireworks made

To blast affection, filling him with glut

Of loneliness.  They left his soul as frayed

As valentines sent through a mangle.  That

Was what he got though they did not

Intend destruction.  Feelings just go splat

In self-protection or they turn to rot.

  Some didn’t mean to hurt.  They wanted fun.

    That’s all.  He should have been a Trappist nun.