FRIENDS: TO A STUDENT WHO READ HER POEM IN CHAPEL

Your words are so damaged
I am compelled to suspect
They may be poetry

As Emily Dickinson knew
When the top of her head
Began to come off
That she was in
The presence of a poem.

Your images
Ignited by resentment
Exploded in our heads.
Your laser sentences
Melt down our cool.

Your atomic words
We fear
If the reactor overheats
May self destruct.