What I See

I see the building fall over.







One push.
I see the forest go up in flame.







One strike.
I see the light fade from her eyes.






One pull.

I see the end.









One moment.

Destruction.

I see the spider crushed.







One step.
I see the paper crumple.







One clutch.
I see the cookie silently succumb to crumbling.





One crush.

I see the idol chuckle in dismissal.






One laugh.
I see the hard line of a mouth after “No.”





One word.
I see the threat of a raised hand.






One twitch.

and the dream of an adoring child disappear

Most of all, I see the ease of all of this.

Brick upon laid brick comes tumbling down.
Ages of wood cackle and cough into ash.
Thoughts and memories never to be recalled again.

The small and insignificant web-spinner is eradicated
The written word and idea is shaken off as failure
The crumbs are swept into the trash and seep into corners and become dust never to taste tongue.

Just a tremor of the vocal cords.
An inevitable, involuntary, no-choice decision
A reflex in the arm

Learned actions that shouldn’t matter.


But do.

And it’s so easy to destroy.

Nevermind the workers who toiled to erect a structure
the seeds that became saplings became trees became forests
the body and the mind and all the mysteries of the conception of life

the spider
the inspiration and wisdom and power that goes into thinking
ha… the obtaining of ingredients, production line, transporting, marketing…

and the hope and hesitation and daring and wonder,
the lip-biting and brow-furrowing and wide eyes
that go into formulating a dream

Never mind all that.

Never mind how hard it is to create.