Finesse is a Mouse
Only one way to catch it
A shield is like a locked door –
impassive. It holds up to a beating,
scares off the desperately mean,
but has a glaring weakness –
finesse. Find the lock, trip
the mechanism. Poke and prod
til all barriers collapse.
Enemy inside.
Finesse is like a mouse.
Silent in its weaving
and unraveling, a visionary
of the small stuff: secret
passages through a home,
whispers in comfortable ears,
cute squeaks to tally friends
for future battle. Bully?
No brain will ever think that word
til finesse pulls out the blowhorn,
armors itself in a hypocrite shell,
hides behind
your lock-picked door.
A shield knows how to defend
against bigness.
Smallness matters little
in the face of speedy scheming,
persuasive evading, glowing
gaslighting. No one takes
a shield’s clang as a plea
for soft hearts; it’s misplaced,
violent; a sure sign of an enemy!
Like wildflowers on a grave,
truth is buried by a pretty piece —
pretty, fragile, worthy of protection.
But I thought such things
were distractions.
I see how it is.
More precious
is the silver, gold, platinum
than crudely-fashioned iron.
What good is the best defense
against a slip, a shadow,
a sneak?
Like a firewall, raised
to ward off blatant attacks,
a shield defends. But what
of worming conversation,
subtle taunts, veneered lies,
all printed in variegated
and tasty morsels?
There are real bullies here,
says the locked door.
And the mouse will agree,
then go chew the wires once
linked to the home’s
friendly owner.
I’m being bullied.
“Send them my way,” I hear,
“I’ll take them down!” but
don’t you see? It’s not so easy.
Shall we gut our walls of mouse holes,
slice off our ears? Must we now
bear physically what was once
ice water
in our spirits, in our hearts?
How does one show proof
of false sweetness, false support,
false victimhood? Once claimed,
debate settles like salt on arable earth.
It is the shield I love
for its innocent expectation:
Battle — Terms defined.
But finesse is a man in black.
Watch as I crouch, set the spring
and with care
lay treat upon dry wood.
Much as I long for peace,
a catch and release
would make complicit
the love of my action.
Let me do this –
for the man, woman,
child; the downtrodden,
standing to avoid the blow
they will not see.
Without an act like this,
they are left to fall in love
with rubble, to smile
at the dearth of their friends
as if no part of themselves bled,
not even internally. The silence
of finessed attacks; this is the damage.
Oh, how I long for ancient combat,
for the shield do its work,
to see its expectation come true, at last.
But I think here,
a mouse-trap will do.
***
A/N: This was written for Lonzo Ward's No Bullying challenge, as linked below.
About the Creator
Mackenzie Davis
“When you are describing a shape, or sound, or tint, don’t state the matter plainly, but put it in a hint. And learn to look at all things with a sort of mental squint.” Lewis Carroll
Find me elsewhere.
Copyright Mackenzie Davis.
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Muses & Musings
Welcome to my new series, a weekly blog on what’s inspiring me. I spent much of last week in bed with a stomach bug. I’ll spare you the details of that—but in addition to the grotesque physical symptoms, I had some fever dreams I won’t soon forget. Imagine my surprise to see Vocal’s newest challenge: Write a fiction story about a recurring dream or nightmare.
By Davina Zinn McKee7 days ago in Journal
Comments (13)
Stunningly crafted x Loved the extended metaphor, I personally wpuld prefee to be bullied overtly, insiduousness is far more disconcerting and much more damagaing in my opinion, Also makes you question your sanity! The last line image of the mouse trap-perfect 🤍
Sticks & stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" has never been true in the entire history of its pronouncement. It's time we learned that & learned to build a better mouse trap. Having said all that, I gotta say, you said it so much better, Mackenzie. I loved this.
I say, you have covered all the basics, poked hot pokers into all of the fissures and cracked all of the walls which still stood. Bullying leaves a bitter taste long after it is over. So many have taken their own lives after long suffering, I understand their pain. So 'bully' to you for sticking it to the BBBBB's.
I can feel the emotional intelligence inside this piece ♥️💯👍📝😉Great Job❗
This is powerful! Took me a while, though, to get a grasp on your every word. First, I got misled by the meaning of 'finesse' I used to know. Haven't seen it bearing this negative connotation before. I agree with you here: half-concealed ugly things like subtle taunts & veneered lies are a much more dangerous enemy than open bullying. I was having some thoughts on this account. Take kids; many of them get to be cruel at a certain stage of their young lives: they bully each other verbally and sometimes physically, most often not really seriously, but just 'for fun'. True, sometimes it gets bad, and it's the responsibility of adults not to let this happen. But overall, kids bully each other, so to say, open-heartedly. But in the adult world, things are tremendously different. Nobody would openly call one a jerk or something but rather apply small portions of sweet or hard-to-see poison. Honestly, I don't think a simple mouse trap would be of help. To fight this, one needs much sharper weapons and, most importantly, support from *real* friends. But I see your message! ♡
Armors itself in a hypocrite shell. I especially loved that line! Your poem was loud and powerful! Bullies need to be taken down!
Fantastic as always, and such an incredible way of rendering the erosion of the insidious, too small to call, bullying when we've equipped ourselves against the brute force of aggression. I might have wanted to do something with the way mice urinate to communicate their territory as they run around the house.
Ooo this is so good. “ Bully? No brain will ever think that word til finesse pulls out the blowhorn, armors itself in a hypocrite shell, hides behind your lock-picked door.” ahhh I love it!! “ How does one show proof of false sweetness, false support, false victimhood? Once claimed, debate settles like salt on arable earth.” so friggin true and well worded! And that ending was perfect! As yours always are.
My goodness, Mackenzie, how do you do it? This is so good and relatable, yet it feels like a unique experience. You have such a way with language, beautiful.
Excellent - deeply layered.
This seems like such a story within the poem! Great contribution to the challenge ❤️
I really enjoyed this. The metaphors are very apt, and choice of words is well thought out. Excellent poem.
Oh my. This is excellent. There so much power in the subtly of your words, but I get it. Set the trap!