One Wrong Choice Poem by Laurence Overmire

May make the difference

There are people you will find
In the crossroads of your life
To be toxic

They are the bringers down
The manipulators
The destroyers

That are never to be trusted

They will lead you
To the worst in yourself and others
Never the best

Their very presence
Hovers over the world
Like an impending doom

A nightmare calamity
About to be
Unleashed

Avoid them
Steer clear
Defend

You must protect
The safe place
Within yourself

The holy and sacred space
Bequeathed to you
In the very beginning

Of all that is good

The noble and steadfast truth
That keeps the horrors of the
Darkening world

At bay.

~ Laurence Overmire

(Previously published in Moments Before Midnight: Oregon Poets Write for Ecological, Social, Political, and Economic Justice, Bob Hill Publishing,2018)