This New Trouble Poem by S.A. Blair

A palpable sense of confusion doth reign
But no-one is talking about it
No-one is speaking
Of admissions that they are so much alike
But all are embarrassed about it
Their arguments creaking

Apologies ne’er will alight on the air
But pride is a parapet
Atop a high wall
See how these lions cower on the edge
But resistance is futile
We’ve seen you fall

Curling your finger about your forelock
Study your fingernails
What is your struggle?
Your cranium too long shut like a vice
Back to the drawing-board
For this new trouble

A courteous handshake as awkward as jelly
The square peg you slot
Inside the round hole
How dare you show face and pontificate
These farcical causes
Now just rigmarole

Now who is your father, your sister, your brother?
An awkward reunion but
Still status-quo
Remember Niobe had offspring so many
The new enemy: a cousin?
But you still draw your bow

Showing your belly as a dog who has fouled
On newly laid carpet
But still, no new tricks
From fear of the new, you curl up your lip
Preparing to bite
As your wounds you lick

So what have you gained and what did you learn?
In building your city
To a landscape of rubble
But nothing, it seems as you stand with your backs
Now together in the face
Of this new trouble