"The Knock" by Dan Cuddy

Dark

That knock on the door----

Who? Why?

Why me?

Yes, I am a member.

I pay

Daily, weekly, yearly.

I’ve done nothing wrong.

I don’t sing off-key.

I don’t pretend.

Not in public.

My shutters are fastened down

None has sailed away in strong wind

I don’t use foreign words

Or a scholar’s obscurity.

I am a man of the people.

I can’t escape my people.

I understand too much,

I believe in ideals,

American ideals,

The third grade kind.

I don’t want to steal anybody’s lunch.

I want to be liked.

I want to be at peace,

like to watch clouds change shape.

Please, fist at the door,

Leave me alone.

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Dan Cuddy is an editor of the Loch Raven Review. He has had poems published in many journals throughout the years.