A Good Night’s Sleep for My Enemy

 I would never come

At night

I don’t believe in

Starting business

Or ending it

After the workday

I’d rather let things

Resume in the morning

Granted, you give up

The element of surprise

But I’ve found

That surprises

Are what make things

Messy

And I don’t like

Messy

I like a nice clean

Conclusion

To whatever it is

That’s been

Disturbing me

And I like a fair fight

It’s important

Your enemies respect you

Or your victories

End up

Hollow

I find it so enthralling

How someone

Can hate you

So much

And still respect you

If you conduct yourself

In a certain way

Now

The last student I taught

Did not feel as though

How they conducted themself

Was something they needed

To worry about

They liked kicked down doors

And using a lot of ammo

And making a point

I don’t need to make

Any points

I don’t need to

I get the job done

That’s the only point

Anybody’s looking for

I took this student aside

And I explained

Very politely

What was wrong

With doing things

Their way

And I demonstrated

My point

By using their own

Preferred method

On them

I can’t really say

Whether or not

They got my point

Since they weren’t able to speak

When we terminated

Our relationship

But I know I walked away

Feeling much better

About the whole thing

I like to donate to my enemy

A good night’s sleep

Have them feeling fresh

When I’m standing in front of them

The next day

Asking them

How they’d like their loved ones

To find the body

I like to let them

Hold their husband

Or their wife

And kiss their children goodnight

And go into battle

Thinking that there will be more battles

Because I know there won’t be

Funnily enough

I don’t sleep well

No matter what I do

I can never get

A good night’s sleep

Because so often in life

The thing you bestow upon others

Is the thing others

Feel they must deny you

I try not to think

Too much about it

Because it’s all energy

Out there

That none of us

Can control

But late at night

When the wooden floorboards

Shudder

And the wind

Moves against the door

I wonder what my enemies

Think I deserve

And what

I don’t