The Thin Dividing Line (Poetry)

The wisdom of old proverbs stands
the clichéd test of time
when opposites are measured by
the thinness of the line
dividing them - take Love and Hate,
each passionate in turn -
emotions so inflammable
they both consume and burn,
blow hot and cold, embrace extremes
within the fickle heart,
interchange their wildest dreams
and yet they're poles apart.

Take genius and madness, then -
as two ends of the scale -
what chemical imbalance flips
the gifted off the rail?
What last straw broke the camel's back,
what warning had he had
when inner circuits shorted out
and drove him barking mad?
Some violent brainstorm crossed his wires
and scrambled every sign
of comprehension and unpicked
that thin dividing line.

Opposites attract, they say -
Good fascinates the Bad,
Ugly lures the Beautiful,
Happy charms the Sad.
But sometimes they seem more alike -
the picture gets confused,
the thin dividing line's erased,
old boundaries abused...
Perhaps that's why, when we divorced,
with logic near-divine,
you claimed the house and car as yours
but all the bills were mine.