Piker Press — Weekly Journal of Arts and Literature
April 27, 2026

How Trouble Grows

"...Trouble knows where you live..."

How Trouble Grows

Trouble is patient
hiding around corners.
creeping through shadows
entering without a sound.

It starts as a seed blown
by careless winds and
covers your garden with
foul brackish weeds.

Or sparks from a match
spread over fertile ground
becoming flames speeding
through the long night.

Trouble knows where you live.
You cannot hide from it.
Gaining a foothold, growing
fat feeding on your flesh.

Watch how trouble grows
inch by inch, molecule
by molecule coursing
through your veins.

Trouble begins as a whisper
day by day growing louder.
Now your heart beat becomes
a thumping drum.

Soon you will forget
there was a time
when trouble was
not at your side.






Article © Joan McNerney. All rights reserved.
Published in the December 3, 2018 issue .
Image(s) © Sand Pilarski. All rights reserved.
More by Joan McNerney → More poetry → Full issue →
Share: 𝕏 f
Reader Comments
0 Reader Comments
Leave a Comment






All comments are moderated.
Commenting policy