Blunt Life Poem by John Sensele

Like a thief, grief strikes at human vulnerability
Which exposes the fragile nature of human life
Pusillanimous in the face of a Nemesis whose temerity
Deals blows whose sting plays a macabre fife.

Life a jilted wife, grief acts vehemently
In ways too nefarious for weak souls
To apprehend and whose defences incoherently
Attempt to build levees with no consistent goals.

Like a wounded buffalo, grief bounces back to bite
At threadbare fabrics that like paper tigers
Mount a risible defence on fences deemed tight
But in reality stand no chances against barbed daggers.

Like a hangman, grief slides a twine noose
Down weeping human necks too compliant
To rebel and too spaced out to cut loose
Advancing death cordons that make life blunt.

Like a robber, grief steals banknote bills
From families whose kitty runs dry
When a few scraps of sweet potato leaves on hills
Amount to barns of food that make offspring cry.