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BULLY

The bully stomped in, loud-mouthed

and tossing cherry bombs at the sky,

their flash unmasking thunderheads,

their blasts landing in our room,

I guess to make us wince and fear

what else he’d do, grumbling the way

he did, spittle spraying from his angry

face, eyes flaring and searching

for someone else to scare.

 

Beneath the bed, my wimpy

sister hid, but not me. I stood at

the window watching the creep push

his way through trees and yards, spewing

brutish threats – and, just like that,

he left, kicking leaves about and spilling

our next-door neighbor’s garbage can.

Little ol’ me could’ve done all that,

 

so why the fuss? The thing is,

someone only had to hear about

the chance he’d come to close

the schools and hide inside.

(Schools closed – talk about

escaping looming danger!) In hasty

thankfulness, without thinking

through the things I’d rather do,

I ran outside to bag our neighbor’s trash.


By Chris Basher (also writing as P. D. Kline). Pea Soup, p.9. 2024.


intimidating thunder and lightning
Thunder and lightning storm


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