In the most passionate of hearts
there lives and breeds a cruelty…
…and who among us has more passion
than the inquisitive child?
For his is but a world
of shattered wings
and legless frogs,
sticks that poke
and stones that maim; But as we lay him
down to sleep
and pray the Lord
his soul to keep,
we know that cruelty breeds
much more than sorrow and remorse;
and despite the morbidity ,
his cruelty is a love affair with life.

Originally published in White Wall Review’s 20th Anniversary issue (1995)