The Body Apoplectic,
or Adjunct’s Lament
 
“And I have known the eyes already, known them all…”  T. S. Eliot
 
I went reluctantly to join the feud.
I went because the meeting call went out,
because to fail to go would make me
rude at best, at worst impolitic.
I went because I wasn’t sick, or out
of town, and they were serving food.
And in the room they turned pale plum or white
and called each other troglodyte.
 
Today I’m home alone in a black mood.
It rained all night; the skies pout,
the wind rants and vents its attitude.
At best, I am a part-time maverick,
at worst a closet heretic about
to be unmasked. I brood,
and in the room the light turns plum and gold
and I am growing old.
 
Liza McAlister Williams


If you have any thoughts on this poem, Liza McAlister Williams would be pleased to hear them.