National Poetry Month: day 8/poem 8

I wrote this next poem after a horrific tragedy shook my small Massachusetts town (and those nearby) to the core.  (Published in The Outer Fringe, Issue #6 Shrovetide, 1992, Editor: Thomas Pagano.)


Mendon

 City lights
Shine over evil streets:
    Death
    Deception
Far from the country fields:
    Peace
    Promise

Escape from the city
To the tranquil yellow corn
So far from fear

The misleading escape from fear

Escape to the country
With its own cryptic fear
Hidden in the hearts and minds of those
Who love
And who are loved

Forceful, violent fear;
It creeps into the minds of:
    Your mother, your friends,
    Even yours.
It challenges those who accept
And beats those who are weak.
Open your heart to them
For they need support,
Before it's too late.
Because death
And deception
Are not so far away.