This week's proto-poems

 Excerpts from some poetry prompts. The first one is based on a story my papa told about his brief time in Japanese-controlled Cambodia at the end of the war.

First prompt: something dangerous passed down

We mustn't speak of this sharp-edged symbol of war,

but in whispers.

There was a tale he saw a man's head cut off, 

was it this sword?

Second prompt: a time when you were dangerous

I've never been dangerous in my life,

probably because I've never been in danger;

been surrounded by softness,