The Collected Writings of Brian J. Mueller

A single poem, met at the right moment, can change a life.

Search and read all 1,834 pieces by Brian J. Mueller — 1,675 poems, 38 prose pieces, and 121 haiku from 12 published volumes. Free to read and share.

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Zombies

...are life without soul.

Anger and fear
are not the same thing.
Don’t confuse the two.

I once thought anger
was the more powerful.
But I was dead wrong.
Fear trumps anger.

Take zombies for example.
Who are the zombies?

Are they only symptoms
of a pandemic virus?

Why are they undead,
so angry and relentless?

Look a bit closer.

Zombies embody the fear
of a world awash in inequality,
where laws and cultural norms
and outright repressive violence
are no longer able to contain
the enemy at the gates.

Pogo once said,
We have met the enemy
and he is us!

More specifically,
he is our inability
to confront our fears.