The Last Straw (Poetry)

First published in Word Craft Issue 19 Spring 1986

Oh the silly trivialities
that cause the tranquil nerve to snap
and fly in reason’s face.

A pile of petty difficulties —
those small annoying clouds that blot
a trouble-free horizon

with some obscene maliciousness
to tempt the anger of a storm
and ruffle tired feathers.

Confounded by perversity
the brows are wont to knit and crease
and lure the tongue to spit

ill-considered blasphemies
until the flood of temper slows
and logic builds a dam

to check this puerile petulance.
So calm returns and smooths the way
to bridge the camel’s back.