Poetry in the Margin

It has been a full hand and then some

The drama that has ensued between then and now

Has played out without me

I am ambivalent for the moment

I have done what I can do

It is a saying of old Thassan salts

"The beatings continue until morale improves"

And they do, continue that is

For more than morale, however

For a positive outlook is simply not enough

For impropriety then, recalcitrance when

In the face of confrontation, station

Was conveniently put aside

Pride is a false hope, a tenuous refuge

Like dignity, no sound shelter

For those that surrender the right