God, how we fight, fight

to get our needs met.

Out of the dissonance of yesterday

today arrives, new and in flux.

Sitting with turmoil after a verbal attack,

I wonder.

Wonder at our repetitions of what has befallen us,

of the disrespect and dismissal,

bullying and belittling;

What came at me with heavy disorganization

and aggression, brought a new face

to an old pattern. What came at me at home

as a child

came at me again in my home

as an adult.

Only now, now! I could say,

there is no fight here,

slow down and hear what I am saying.

Having one’s boundaries blatantly ignored

and crossed may be

a desperate ploy for power

but I wonder,

might not power be the question at all?