---

George Lewis Avery

---

i
am
a maelstrom of calm

i care
i care therefore i feel
and i feel
the pinch of steel
when others
suffer
and help
i often will

i think
i weigh the words i speak
i bode no ill
and yet i carry
the weight of words unspoken
and spoken
and though my knapsack is filled to peak
its contents
do not spill

i suppress
i delay before i act
and i would do no ill
so i bottle what i feel
and then
i leave it in the sun
where it swells
whereby
my anger has no vent
at least
not yet

tis true that doggies bite
and cats extend their tail
firecrackers have a fuse
and the hammer has a nail
but i
i am a maelstrom of calm
my failsafe never fails
shake me
rattle me
step on my tail
my cap is screwed on tightly
any anger i can quell
i always have
i will

call me weak
i'll turn my cheek
but when i smile
my cuspids
bruise my tongue
you never guess how strong i am
i am you know
i am a maelstrom of calm
and yet
there ll be a crater in the ground
when i blow

.oeg ©