By Rachael Ikins
Bayou City II Branch
One country is not the world.
I missed the moon this morning.
Only a film-softened face. Dawn.
My old house in the woods became a meth lab.
How can that be? That healing place where poetry
found me wandering the woods.
Today’s sky white, someone said that is the weight of snow.
The Arctic melts. Loosening bergs desalinate the sea.
Their sighs die, high summer, winter falls on us all at once.
No fairy tale, Earth’s aridification. No fairytale winter this.
Sunset. Wildfires. Today we remember
a peace-making murdered man. Where is hell?
Dancing in Los Angeles? Flames.
I wonder where the angels are, the heroes.
That murdered man thanked darkness
for revealing stars. Grab one, starlight pierces your palm,
you bleed. Don’t let go.
With your other hand reach for your neighbor’s.
Make a ring. Big enough, tight enough
to marry
an entire planet.
WOW
thank you for your beautiful amazing poem. Your writing transports me to a wonderful place.
This powerful poem finishes with an expression of hope. It reaches for collective healing with the lines, “Don’t let go” and “Make a ring.” Thank you, Rachael.
Love the juxtaposition of images, metaphor and cadence of this poem. I had to read it twice.
wow. there are some deep thoughts in this poem. I will read it several times – and get more with each reading.
This poem is so sadly beautiful. It is so powerful in so few words!! You managed to capture my exact feelings in such a compact piece Kudos from one poet to another!!!!
So vivid and heartfelt. It was a bit complicated to follow the leaps from theme to theme, though your artistry comes through with the emotion. I find myself writing like this when something tragic happens. Its feels so clear to me, but I end up revising months later when I decide to send it out for publication. Thank you for sharing.
In the end, as the Poet in residence said this summer (to the open mic group at the Gloucester Writing Center where I read from one of my novels): “Poetry, words, are the only weapon we have to combat war.”
Speaking (not yelling) and listening are the key.