Submitted for Your Consideration

Some symbols can be read
That posit all symbols
Are forms of submission—

That is, equivalent
To using one’s posture
To end confrontation.

All symbolic language,
Then, is being polite,
Giving way, not fighting.

Flyting and the dozens
Do seem more like displays
Than actual brawling,

But neither incitement
Nor bearing witness
Ease negotiation—

That would make poems combat
Continued by other
Means. We’re not diplomats.