Violence of Mind

Whatever the cause, we have imagined
hurting someone without stopping.
Maybe at the top of a switchback
staircase, you created a you that jammed
a claw-hand into someone’s soft throat
and spun them up over the rail and let go.
You’ve imagined a reason to be so angry.
You know which chair you’d use if
someone had to be tied down. You know
which instruments you’d use from the knife drawer,
from the toolshed, and how to use them.
You’ve had moments where it’s gone that far,
where you’ve thought it through to the end.
But they aren’t alone. Most of us have had
our own ghosts thrown underneath a car
and run over in forward and reverse.

Get out, now, from under the wheels.
Your figment self has business elsewhere.
Someone else is waiting for it at the top
of a spiral staircase so they can walk
you down and, one by one, make
every dream you might have come true.