Nonetheless, There Are Always Those Who Resist

Bad apples, bad barrels,
Authoritarians
And milquetoast conformists—

If species-specific—
Seem to come leavened
With yeasty resisters,

Although the resisters
Seem always outnumbered,
So that all viciousness

Resembles tournaments
Of seeded opponents—
Some upsets, mostly chalk.

What a horrific thought—
That here’s a recipe
Baked in societies,

Always some brutalists,
Some conformists, some moles
Who tunnel No Man’s Land,

And a few resisters.
Find us a history
Absent this chemistry.

Meanwhile, the quietest
Quietists, the hermits
Hide, knowing they’d be dragged

Into the square and flogged,
If not executed,
By any team that won.