THE BEAST WITHIN

Thinly veiled as civilized

the beast within remains contained.

Outsiders think it tame.

Well trained, the child becomes the man,

respected citizen, father of two:.

Two more beasts to be contained.

Well trained for circus life,

they act upon command

or crack their whips and smiles.

Knowing not what freedom is,

the beast is tamed, and life goes on.

Some break out; such calamity.

From one insanity into another

more primal, urgent, cruel,

for the beast within was never held.

Nor loved. So it grew, deformed,

contained within, beneath the carapace

of saving face and civic pride.

No place to hide from naked truth

the beast within consumes itself

and men are empty shells.

Michael W. Fox, July 4, 2007