Brandishing A Sword Poem by Louise Tredoux

I read somewhere a man with toothache
cannot fall in love, the pain makes it impos-
sible to focus on ephemeral emotions - well,
now I know a man full of righteous indignation
cannot fall in love either, he is too consumed with
justice and warfare and hatred for what he thinks is
wrong with the world to open up to the finer emo-
tions, he is brandishing a sword while perched
on an imaginary horse; beware anyone who
crosses his path while he is engaged in
this kind of warfare…