Where will you
refuse
today?

will I find
it in your eyes?
pupils widened against
actual rejection,
wildly seeking some small
life control

in the clench of your hands
gripping your seat as your
sneakers kick out

or will I distill it in the
frantic voice-
I'll smash you with
my will if
my fists don't find
you first

in your body
I see you carrying all
the weapons you can't
toss.  an arsenal of hope
I wish life hadn't forged
but I'm not the one
that made it so.

So you take that feeble
power and just keep saying
No.