by David Southward
It took nothing—
a smoker’s match, a welder’s spark—
to start the blaze
in my ribs.
You will search
the smoldering grandeur
for some dire cause.
That is your rhythm.
But remember:
the one you blame
is small and frightened, like you.
Like you, my child.
Forgive him.
David Southward teaches in the Honors College at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His chapbook Apocrypha was published by Wipf & Stock in 2018; a full collection, Bachelor’s Buttons, is forthcoming from Kelsay Books (April 2020).