Nothing to Fear

My mouth is a sealed envelope.
They glued the flap down
and drove staples through my tongue
to keep the message inside.
The innocent have nothing to fear,
they say. I must be guilty—
though I’m just the envelope
not the letter.

Who knows what the message is,
a book, a magazine,
a newspaper, a pamphlet,
the latest piece of subversive samizdat
or a photo of a kitten?
They’re terrified of it.
The innocent have nothing to fear,
they say. They must be guilty.

Nothing to fear here.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Don’t look at the staples
in my tongue.
Don’t listen to the message
under the sealed flap
under the duct tape
under the black hood.

The innocent
have nothing
to fear.

Original images: air envelope, staples

readwritepoem, Inspire Me Thursday, Sunday Scribblings

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