unshockable

     “Unshakable resilience in the crucible of life has rendered my spirit
          ‘brave, strong and utterly unshockable.’  Bring it on!”—CAB
 
i've witnessed fire come down from heav'n,
     smelting sand, steel, and stones;
          survived the rape of nine-elev’n;
               broken a thousand bones.
 
i've seen seas sweep swift swirling storms
     that smother saint and sage,
          and refugees torn from their dorms
               like cattle in a cage.
 
i have beheld the prisoner rot
     in gaol without a trial,
          and, after thirty years, then spat
               like poison from its phial.
 
i've watched decapitated heads
     footballing down the slope;
          infants deflowered, in their beds,
               of every shred of hope.
 
the taste of gall has left my tongue
     to delicacies blind,
          where sweeter anthems have been sung
               to beasts of every kind.
 
the perils of the universe
     rush in like golfers putting
          a hole-in-one, a vicious curse,
               all sanity rebutting.
 
a piteous plea for kim jong un,
     whose weapons are rough toys
          deployed to waste the cartoon moon      
               that floats his errant ploys.
 
what lack i yet, if i must face
     the worst of life's most sordid
          atrocities? i stand apace,
               unshockable, to rahtid!
 
               © Copyright 2024 February 16
                         by Clyve A. Bowen♫