cruelty. don’t talk to me about cruelty

or what I am capable of.

when i wanted the roaches dead i wanted them dead

and i killed them. i took a broom to their country

and smashed and sliced without warning

without stopping and i smiled all the time i was doing it.

it was a holocaust of roaches, bodies,

parts of bodies, red all over the ground.

i didn’t ask their names.

they had no names worth knowing.

now i watch myself whenever i enter a room.

i never know what i might do.

■