Speaking your mind

Speaking your mind

Is no guarantee of honesty

Straight talking

Shooting from the hip

Plainly said

Does not absolve

Rudeness

Nor is it a salve

To smooth over

Petty cruelties

Callous indifference

The hurt

Inflicted on victims

Of a brutal tongue

Malice is not always

Aforethought

But can be a consequence

Of casual thinking

Is that when we create

A casualty

Can we be guilty

Without meaning

To offend

Because of clumsiness

Is there always

Another way

A better phrase

Or even nothing to say

Rather than

Twisting a knife

In an open wound

When a sharp tongue

Can do more damage

On its own

Than a barrel full

Of grapeshot

From a hot gun

Wildly scattered

Without remorse

Talking ourselves hoarse

Then we might think

About every word

And what it can mean

To those people

To whom

It might be directed.