Delete each leg
so there is nothing to stand on.
Delete each hand
so no one can point any fingers.
Delete each arm
so no one can wave them like bats.
Delete each head
so no one can understand.
Delete each heart
so no one can care.
William Palmer’s poetry has appeared in Ecotone, I-70, JAMA, The New Verse News, One Art and elsewhere. A retired professor of English at Alma College, he lives in Traverse City, Michigan.