Delayed Silence
I’m forty-eight years old when I learn
my high school bully has died
He wasn’t one to beat me up,
but his very breath was intimidation
His stare meant to scare
A kind word never passing his lips
And now nothing will pass his lips again
And I can’t say I feel sorrow or sadness
Though even in high school,
I don’t remember ever wishing him dead
Just away
And I guess that is also what death is
Away
A place beyond our reach
Or theirs
And how I wanted to beyond his reach
Glazed, lifeless eyes can’t intimidate
A cold heart got colder
Cruel lips became forever silent
The quiet stillness I wished for
so desperately thirty years ago
Less satisfying in its delay
Written March 2022