Clashes Weave All Contracts

What makes someone confront
Someone they consider
Some species of sinner?

If you have ever been
The stranger accosted
By another stranger

Whose mock politeness turns
Increasingly bitter,
You’ve had cause to wonder.

The accuser most often
Is older, and the tone
Is edgy, querulous,

More or less bullying.
The sin may be minor,
In fact, usually is,

And either local or
More or less personal
To that one enforcer—

The way a car is parked,
The way voice takes up space,
The way someone is dressed.

Everyone gets annoyed
And feels irritated
By others’ minor sins,

But what sends some people
Straight to accusation,
What reckless disregard

For their own safety, for
Someone else’s headspace,
For nuances of sin?

Whatever’s going on,
It leaves behind a fine
Thread in the tapestry

That connects the social
Contract to the bombers
Threatening overhead.