Destroying Affection 5.8.2009 Poem by Margaret Alice

The silence between us is alive,
a threatening Gorgon’s head with
snakes and tentacles suffocating
me - I’m to blame

I drove home in an aggressive
frame of mind, having pushed
myself at work to finish checking
all documents on my desk

My mental engine could not stop,
like a Grand Prix Ferrari in overdrive
I could not slow down, speeding
everywhere, kids complained

The feverish feeling was jolly and
we were laughing, joking about
your love for destruction when
we saw the tree you cut down

You exploded in fiendish anger
on hearing us, the expression of
hatred on your face was a shock,
yet I confess it was my fault

My aggressive driving indicates that
my brand of humour was out of place,
but it bugs me that you could project
so much hatred in your anger

If this is what anger does, I would rather
not indulge in that emotion again, how
awful to assume such an expression,
use that tone of voice, cutting off life

Undermining trust, destroying
affection...