Coward?!

I gently waved
“slow down”
at car speeding
through school zone.

He sped by
swerved and stopped
and blocked road
for me and others.

“Hey, you!
You a coward?!
Hey, you!
You a coward?!”
A coward chorus resonated
While pounding on my car.

Are you…
-9-
are you..
-1-
a coward?
-1-

How do you answer this?
... who gives a shit?
... and, what does it even mean?

Pounding chorus continued
as ancient, primitive drumbeat
of pre-Homo sapiens.

I finally drove
around his car
and on towards
my appointment.

I finished talking with
911 operator and
kept driving.

Like a bad dream that
keeps recurring …
or … a mosquito
that never gives up.

The coward-asker
showed up again
first behind, -9-
then in front, -1-
then behind, -1-
then in front.

“I called just a few
minutes ago…
He’s back!”

“Keep taking right turns
until squad car arrives.”
How appropriate!

Spent last 15 minutes
in circles of coward chorus
and car tag.

But, mosquito finally figured
out the game plan
and disappeared.

Officer: “That license
plate number doesn’t
exist. It used to be
for a trailer.”

In a flash
I had been zapped
into a strange
and vaguely familiar world.
…. two thirds a century or so ago
I was bullies’
favorite target.

A blend of
world driven by
primitive emotions,
full of fear, anger, hatred,
and
of a world of bullies
who never grew up.

What kind world
does this guy live in?
What kind of world is
it, where asking
if you’re a coward
is at all meaningful
or befitting?

Ponder this…
what would it be like
to be this guy?
Has he ever felt
totally relaxed
and without a care
in the world…?
been loved intensely
and unconditionally…?
Has he ever loved,
really loved,
someone intensely
and unconditionally…?
Has he ever felt
real happiness…?

What would a world…
what would a world
be like…
feel like…
smell like…
taste like…
sound like…
that has no relaxation…
that has no love…
that has no joy…?

© 2024 by Jeffrey W. Bloom

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