This poem is the result of a poetry workshop assignment from the course I’m signed up for with Buddy Wakefield. Our meetings are each Sunday, and this week, our task was to write a warning label. It has not been reviewed by the community yet. Feel free to leave your feedback below.

Be well there~

Warning!

I’m a sharp-tongued artist with a penchant for kale

Willing to build art, direct, at you.

From books to sculptures to lesson-plans yo,

I’m a cat who’s willing to scratch you,

Because I’m paranoid as fuck, and figure people are a threat.

Things happened to me in China that I can’t forget.

۝

I wish I could trust people more,

Be vulnerable, open, and kind.

But I see vipers in the office, where they might be normal folk.

I just don’t know what it is I’ll find

If I let folks get to know me, so I don’t try to meet folks here.

So my tongue is a blade that matches my knife. I don’t know where I am this year.

۝

Maybe next year’ll be cool and I’ll meet some good folks,

Some people I don’t viscerally distrust.

I’ll keep plodding along this path that I’m on,

Because in order to make it, I must

Keep my mind clear, body healthy, mouth shut.

Because there are innocents out here who I don’t wanna cut.