Throwing Tomatoes Poem by Laurence Overmire

There are those who
Delight
In the belittling of others

Who take pleasure
In the nasty word
And the malevolent gesture

Some make their living
In the negative reaches of
Darkest space

They may call themselves
Experts or pundits or critics
But we artists know them simply as

Fools

Some things may deserve to be
Knocked down
But rarely are they human beings

It takes no genius to destroy

The creators, the givers
The lovers, the healers
These are the heroes who

Know

The building up
Is so much more difficult
Than the tearing down.

~ Laurence Overmire

(Previously published in New York Minute: An Actor's Memoir, Indelible Mark Publishing,2017)