The Poacher of Pleasure

I did not expect to be happy the whole time

But I insisted upon being free, eventually

Look at its fingers, feeling fiction

See how it scratches at symbols sublime

Witness the damage done by demonic friction

To the only, legible beauty

You know the poacher of pleasure

You can smell a monster, when the wind is southerly

The poacher steals the recognition

Of the difference between revenge and justice

Justice changes you for the better

Revenge changes others, for the worse

See the world

Where you will harm others for fear of being harmed

For you will have your revenge upon those who have wronged you

Even if you are utterly undone in the process

You will never forget what they have done to you

All of them, every last one

Unto the third and fourth generation

Revenge wants the evidence

Scrolling, it hovers over an image of discomfort

Drinking in the signs that the enemy’s not at all well

The poacher of pleasure loves revenge

Thieves should run banks, to hear the poacher tell it

Murderers should be recruited for your protection

Pay no heed: if either one is married, both should just walk away

After all, someone will be unhappy

But won't both be glad to be free?

An age of adultery

With so few adults

And so much fear of aging

When you look old, you can't act like a child

Convincingly, that is--you know it

Which is why you will try to boil the ocean

To make all of your wrinkles vanish in the steam

What you want is revenge

How you relish your strange, embarrassing bruises

Of course you are bruised; look how you have been treated!

The world should be amazed that you’ve survived

In order to make all of your enemies miserable

While you ask what else is on

Or doze off before you can see the pictures

Of all of the agony you have caused

Those Shouldhaveknownbetters and their friends

You remember the Servesthemrights, just down the hall

We are all neighbors, and we cannot remember love, exactly

Not anymore, it's been so long, and besides

We're not really clear about what it was all about to begin with

A very sensitive area there

Especially at first

So easily impersonated

By revenge

There are so many ways to be wanted

There are so many ways in which to want

We are always busy doing both

Convinced that the other side

Does not understand our side

Scolding ourselves in alternating jerseys

If revenge lights up your nerves

With holiday colors or book burning brightness

You will not rest until you get what you deserve

Which is to say, everyone will suffer, in time

You're going to get all of it, no matter what jersey you're wearing

You are the wanter and the wanted, always

Recall what revenge makes one ache for

The punishment of wrongdoers

Each of us is a wrongdoer of some kind

Unless we are children, or sparrows, or rain

So that means I ought to be punished as well, once I've let you have it

See how the spores are ejected on impact?

We should be seeking justice, not revenge

Freedom, even if the food isn't great

Beats the hell out of an inescapable, lavish buffet with idiots

Outside, you can walk with the wind

Be sure you are yourself, again

Stop worrying about hurting them

Start studying your own wounds

Inflicted by familiar hands

Listen closely

The poacher of pleasure is always sneaking up behind

Turn to the sinister shadow

Recognize your own face