Give me a smart time
and I’ll be all over it
like a dog on dropped steak.

I like a word that pushes back,
a phrase to turn my path
toward light.

But — one that takes me
for dumb or leaves me dumber
than I was before I read it?

Leaves me starving for honesty,
or which clearly jerks my knee
and refuses to understand why

I might take exception? I’m
not perfect. I’m often wrong,
but if you do not care to see 

how we got there,
you choose to give me
bones upon which

to break a tooth, and
understand — I do bite.
I do bite back, gnaw,

suffer myself to choose
suffering to chase off 
such chosen violence.

I will break a tooth
off in you. I will break
into pain for you. 

I’ll bleed through my ivory.
I’m not proud of the bleeding
we both will do as much as

I’m proud not to be
unwilling to leave anything
undropped under the table.