Petals in the Light

Photo by Mary Davila

Crushed by a vile tongue
into fragments of shattered fear
buried in vicious rebuke

self respect chiseled away
with demeaning humiliation
producing a wilted stone sculpture

bulldozed into a harsh wedge
lodged between rage and insanity
flattened into submissiveness

poison spurts out cruelty
as I shrivel in a venomous ocean
vomiting malignant malice

and how was your day?