Deadly Tongue

It’s funny how one little thing
A fellow man can say
Can pierce a heart and thrust it
Into spiritual decay

And most would never fathom
What torture they impose
With words that leave the mouth too fast
Like venom through a hose

She didn’t even know me
But couldn’t hold her tongue
And like a charmed and deadly snake
It slithered out and swung

But poised, I saw it coming
And I, too quick to stay
And wait for her to strike me dead
With what she had to say

One lunge left and one lunge right
And backward paces swift
I dodged those sharp, accusing fangs
Yet stepped right off a cliff

And in a canyon lying
In pieces on the ground
Could not command myself to move
Nor utter slightest sound

Now IRONY is circling in
To feed upon my plight
Where fear and self-preserving flesh
Save not, but paid with life