Gâteau

As usual 

you don’t know what

you’re meddling with

you don’t understand 

how these forces work 

or what I’m trying 

to achieve

you think only

of your own wisdom 

having lived

many decades

longer than I 

and believing that by 

keeping me safe

you will be saving me.

But safety 

is the razor blade

I’ve been cutting 

my wrists with

I’ve been drowning 

in a bathtub of caution

and my sense of duty

is what I've been using

to string myself up.

This is why

Peter said

men have more adventures 

because you are busy

smothering 

all the women you know

under their own

pillows.

Let me run

out into traffic 

let me be incautious 

and reckless and foolhardy 

let me swim in the winter 

with the lightning 

and make other 

poor choices

as long as they involve 

laughter and adventure.

The more you

try to grip me

for my own good

in your benign 

conspiracy 

the more likely it is

that the next gâteau

will be filled with poison.