Swizzle Stick

what's left

April 21 — Explore a specific aspect of your personality, behavior, or identity in a poem.


in my fairness I am sinister
leaning squarely out of centre
un sinistre on life's back-road

right is not my dominant reach
I, southpaw, cannot cut
a straight line with scissors

childhood cursive was neatly
repeatedly smudged in the margins
blotted in the vowels

you think differently
you prefer the item on the left
while the world prefers right, right -

I prefer the before shot to the after
Friday afternoon, over the blunt fact of Saturday

I keep my little red freak-flag flying
it is not a cry for help
it may look like I'm not trying

but now I float a white flag too
I recognise the wisdom of surrender
& I hold a wooden stick in my left hand