Fighting Weight
The Strong Man
Marsden Hartley, 1923
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-strong-man-1923-marsden-hartley.html
Back to my fighting weight
arms as clubs,
legs like tree trunks
belly barely bulging
buttocks worthy of sculpture
Do not misunderstand me
I seek no conflict
I intend no malice
I crave no broken bones
I do not wish for blood to flow
My weapon of choice is the pen
the argument that appeals to reason
cutting down evil at the knees of would-be despots
before it can rise to their lips
challenging the – isms of conflict
fundamentalism, irredentism, racism
– and all their sorry sisters
Yet far too often there is no place for noble sentiment
the only option is the sword
You try to wield it justly
knowing that innocents will fall
praying that your humanity will not be sacrificed
as you thrust and draw – as you thrust and draw
Next
Vacation