Write Right…

Banality cuts deep. Not as much
as indifference, though. Only nature
should be afforded that privilege.

Like high tide. The relentless physics
of sea and moon. But hey human, you
must sing of beaches morphing into ports,
built with the rubble of houses, of lives.

Like morning, the helpless, careless
turning of earth. What of light, that
just is, that is revealed no matter
who is watching. Human, write of
the darkness that precedes it. Body
after body after body laid low in
unmarked graves, body after body
never found, body after body
splattered against clouds, body
after body, so small, fathers gather
them in bags just so they can do
something, anything, other than cry.

Like trees. Trees so old they know
all the prequels to your shadow.
Trees under which children played.
Trees caught in the blaze. Time
not stopping, not moving. Human,
write of the one tree still standing
amidst the ruins. As if, propping
up the sky. As if the burden of the
heavens has come to rest on shoulders
too small, too tender, too unprepared
for hero’s work. Write that Atlas,
here, is a small child. Atlas is
the sum of all the children.

Leave the silence to the earth.
It learns quietness from the
countless graves in its womb.
There are scenes behind the
scenes. There are things in
motion behind the things that
cannot move. Like flowers.
Human, write of flowers that
yearn for graves and hair and
homes and the slight breeze
that said, perfumed, look, there
is love behind love, look, there
was a lover behind the lover.

***

If you’re going to write all of April and are looking for prompts, here is a list. Sometimes, we just need to look around us and write about what is going on. What is real and what can hold a mirror to the world, to ourselves. Do you want to give it a shot?