what soul is not besieged
what soul is not besieged
what soul is not besieged by rotten eggs and soft tomatoes
by answers unreturned and questions unsent
by minutes that make up hours and hours
that tear down the day
what mind is not put upon and
once put upon
cast off into a corner
what body is not battered and
beaten by the blows it shields
itself from
what soul is not bombarded
by twenty-two gauge shot and mortar fire
by unresolved cadential patterns
that whine around the head
by invalidation of beliefs and
of what one has seen and sensed
there is reason to suspect that one can grow
if only the rainy season didn’t last
the entire year.
— Zumwalt (1991)
zumpoems 