Penalty for Anger
Penalty for Anger
The walls of heart shook
under the blasts of mind,
in an upstairs bedroom
plaster fell on the empty bed
and a door slammed its protest.
Silence rolled back on
velvet wheels, a robin’s egg
hatched with a crackling shell,
a bee stirred in a flower,
a vacant window danced naked
in the sun.
Whisper of a timid key
roused the lock, the door swung
in a welcome arc,
a stained traveler washed
in the waters of home.
Mind knelt in disgrace,
heart bowed to an audience
of empty chairs.
Publication Details
Original Citation
Southwest Review 63 (Autumn 1978) 404.
Word Count
90
Original Publication
Date Published
1978
Complete Poems
355
Notes and Commentary