*a wild billy mays appears* “but wait! There’s more!”

Hey Sams. It’s funny, I woke up with this exact feeling pressing down on me. The ole Cadbury egg phenomenon: tough dark exterior but inside is creamy sweet mushiness. I guess nature designs many creatures this way, because if we were all a bunch of blobs of creamy sweet mushiness then we’d get gobbled up or stepped on or washed off the sidewalk with a hose. But I guess with some of us who realize our own vulnerability we spend a lifetime building up the crunchy exterior so thick that a brontosaurus couldn’t bite through.

Your poem itself is, as always, masterful. Like your last one, the symmetry really works. So visual, the way the 1st half is harsh & ramps up to the turning point and then gets reflected in the 2nd half as a softer, more flowing image. Like looking at yourself in a stream.

As for Billy Mays, I sure miss the guy & his ear damaging voice that always used to drill thru my semi conscious mind at 1:30 am with the tv on. Someone should make a zombie movie where he comes back “but wait there’s more!” *brainchomp*