"Cruelty in the Head, Kindness in the Heart" by Drew Pisarra

Part of my training was to learn how to smile

as my mind secretly plotted your undoing,

to agree and nod and make nice and keep quiet then light a candle and poison the well.

I may not sew but I can visualize a voodoo doll.

Admittedly, I haven't done that for a spell. But inside, I've sunken more sailors than a manatee; and blinded more eyeballs than a welder's sparks; Of course I'm just mumbling nonsense, sotto voce as the saying goes. I self-implode like Narcissus: to myself, for myself, by myself, self-important, self-amused. My powers are limited, not super.

I'm neither a prophet nor a master strategist. Can I do harm? Everyone can. It's so easy.

I try to default to Love but some days it's hard.

A literary grantee of Cafe Royal Cultural Foundation and Curious Elixirs: Curious Creators, Drew Pisarra is the author of "You're Pretty Gay" (2021), a collection of short stories, "Infinity Standing Up" (2019), a collection of sonnets, and "The Strange Case of Nick M." (2021), a radio play commissioned by Imago Theatre.