The Dance

THESE WORDS don’t tiptoe,
they dance
heavy-footed, demanding your attention.

when these words put their foot down,
you’re goddamn right
they expect to be heard.

these words are no ballerinas;
they do not pussyfoot with grace-no
these words break

themselves down into
L-E-T-T-E-R-S.

these words are a break
beat. (beat up, beat down,
beaten into submission.)

or,

these words are a broken metronome,
struggling to sync up.

Bradford Allison lives in a smallish town in New England. He has had poems published in the literary journals Temper and Children, Churches & Daddies.