Head still bent,
Once bitten, twice shy. . .
To din out the pain;
Or let it just go by. . .

Living in a rut,
Touched by the redback
A long journey thence;
To joy, but alas, soon back

Wrapping it all,
In a ‘slice’ of paper. . .
But it degenerates before you
You watch it taper. . .

A few precious words,
May just do the trick;
Or prove adverse and instead,
Break brick by brick. . .

What took all your strength to build,
Your love, life and toil. . .
One wrong trigger
And watch it recoil

Hapless, hopeless, helpless;
Yet you take all the blame
And don’t take what might be
Truly, yours to claim. . . :)