What
is so black -
The people or the night
With border bleeding
Fight or flight...
Rushing forth from rut and hollow
On displaced waves, endless masses ride
36 million human lives treading dirt
In oceans without water
Too much chatter, skimming surface-
Worn tires like people, seize upon the shallow
While lexicons cannot decipher
That which makes us -
Insider, Outsider, Strange
Smells, washed and unwashed, everywhere
Flesh barrels bone towards relief or slaughter
M-16, TB cough, collective breath
Threads unravel like people, disconnecting
Until a voice, rich and simple:
‘Please, please, go ahead…’
A man, strong and trembling, holding out
Nuts, spicy sprigs, manna bits from mobile markets
Wrapped tight, unlike the bodies, strewn and scattered
‘No,’ I hesitate - ‘but thank you, still…’
What is so dark -
The futility or the persistence
Arrogance or grace
Both masticating
Too much thought, silences none can alter
No such thing here as chew and swallow
Scales of weight and cups of measure
That which makes us -
Weak, Noble, Strange
Tastes, advancing and retreating, to nowhere
Human heart changing what it does not color
Good, evil, individual action
Kindness, an explosion unstained by rocket fire
Wrapped in wrinkled meaning
Like precious parchment, old and tattered
He walks lines ignorance won’t dare travel
Between us and them, his and mine –
‘Share this with me’ - desperate words - ‘or we both will suffer.’
What is so threatening -
The darkness or the light
He and I, soul and dust
Humanity bound in lifting shadow.