The Hornet's Nest

[Poem Request #5]

Not quite an ode I'm afraid, and not perhaps what 'umble fan had in mind, but well.

There was a hornet's nest inside the slab.
A current of rage beneath the weight of things.
Not a hive, you understand, nothing
sweet and dangerous like memory;
just the wings of doubt drilling
away at the drab walls, finding the gaps,
making indignation their home.

You were afraid. "Leave it alone", you said.
But I knew how the lie repeated
becomes an established thing, the insistent flaw
in a summer washed white, the sting
of the tongue behind clenched jaws.
So we filled up the crack. Poured cement
like complicity. Learnt to ignore
the truths buzzing in the brittle air.

There was a hornet's nest inside the slab.
Now the sense of disappointment is everywhere.