Lotion Poem by Raj Dronamraju

Taking into account a skeptical audience
Looking for an opportunity to breathe fire
You comfort the dog who has a history of mistreatment
And rub the salve of affectionate idiocy all over yourself

These are the tears of a beneficent king
Disappointed with the lack of reciprocity for his spirit of giving
He numbed his heart with goodbye kisses from subjects he didn't like
And applied the cream for a lifetime of meaningless good personhood

He dawdled with the forked lady who came with a warning label and a prescription from a pharmacist
But foul interactions with people, their inevitable conflicts, their continuous irritations, will always erupt
Leaving pock marked rancorous unsettled human beings

Careful with a scorched area of exposed awareness
Slow rubbed in olive oil, she meets the past with gentle sighs
Shared with those who also bear the marks of living forced upon us