ENVIRONMENTAL Poem: i’m a dangerous poet, by Climbing Sun

beware if you make the mistake of reading my verses—
they will lure you innocently in
with all sorts of lavish language

this will soften you
cause your heart’s door to creak open
at first just a crack

then i’ll toss in that one perfectly-placed word
the one that tastes like the best chocolate memory
from your childhood

it might evoke that song about sunshine
or the soft rub of a dry towel
after a dip in the lake

it could be the intoxication of your first corn roast
or that sound of the large waterfall
that woke up your soul

you won’t even realize
how wide your heart-door has now opened
your mind won’t have time to readjust its armor

because i will manipulate you back to that exact moment
when you thought you needed to stay meek
to duck the world’s endless punches

then i’ll paraphrase how the earth is running a temperature
in a way that blows your heart-door off its hinges
i apologize for this

not for the primal discomfort
but for the thrust of that tearful ache
you have no choice but to wield like your private sword

against those misguided and smug sleepwalkers
who know not the nature of that sacred ground
upon which they so cold-heartedly step

that same ground
whose very dna has formed
their every cell

that same ground
whose silent tiny screams beg them
to stop stepping on themselves