Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Anger Management


I gaped at him in amazement
as Kevin raged.
It was unexpected;
the conference room door
still stood open,
and no one was brave enough
to move to close it,
so we all knew his shouts
echoed throughout the office.

He punctuated his sentences
by slamming his right fist on the table.
Flecks of spittle flew out of his mouth,
as he spat insults and threats.
Narrowed dark eyes
and that vein in his forehead bulging.
His face was bright red then,
his voice even cracked a little
as his fury reached its climax.
Poor Nick.
His cell phone,
sitting on the table in front of him,
suddenly came to life
with an audible vibration.
Kevin grabbed the phone
and threw it as hard as he could
against the opposite wall.
Lucy dodged it with a gasp.
Everyone else was silent.

Kevin looked around the room then,
almost looked surprised to see our terrified faces,
afraid to speak,
afraid to breathe.
He exhaled slowly then.
“Well,” he said at last.
Did he feel ashamed
or just satisfied, relieved?
Like gulping down a hot meal
after a long fast?
He dismissed us then,
and we quickly filed out
as though a fire drill had just been announced.

Derek found me smoking outside later.
“Wow,” he said, and I nodded.
“You okay?” he asked.
After all, it had been my mistake,
and everyone knew it.
“Yeah,” I responded,
crushing the cigarette with my shoe,
“I’m fine.”

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