March 1989

for a time

an animal lived

where there had been reason

self-serving

self-concerned

self-destructive

struggles for continuing life

regardless the cost

violent opposition

based more on instinct

than thought

a beast

cornered

desperate to live

occasionally

the man returns

beating back the beast

more successfully at times

than others

he too involved

in a desperate fight to live

in the face of a foe

too evil to respect

prayers and tears

alone his weapons

he fights

sometimes as a beast

sometimes as a man

dearly wishing to live

afraid of the death

already too close to hand