The tedium of walking on tippy toes
so the offensive won’t be offended
is not a gift I possess.
Oh, I can appear cuddly with the obtuse,
keep my eyes silent, my face a gentle petulant,
but too often they seem to forget boorish
will break the glass of jolly I have so patiently
kept half full.
Ignorance should never ring the doorbell
of my dark humor, or test the shellac
on my carefully manicured mood.
I love antiques, but have no desire
to live the crinoline politics of men
who are so fragile they succumb
to vapors at the thought of progress.
All the cosplaying Captain Fred Waterford’s
whine when I remind them Fred’s story
didn’t end well.
©Susie Clevenger 2024
"We only wanted to make the world better.
Better never means better for everyone.
It always means worse for some."
— Fred Waterford
Captain Fred Waterford is a character
in the book, Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood.
