Stasis
Even this
tap tap tap
is too much
the decision too great
the implications
the participation
If I stand here
and don’t move
am I present at all?
As I stop
will everything
stop
will the raucous circus slink back
through the veil
will we be alone again
quiet enough to think
to speak
to not die
Can we float
or perhaps fly
not through the air
but as air?
Can we escape
this seething
cacophony?
The battlefields of certainty
stomp their hobnailed boots
on the mud-spattered faces
of those who pause
who wanted to wait
for the evidence
those who wanted to be fair
those who don’t wear boots
and wouldn’t use them
as weapons
If they had them
What a blasted field of tragedy
all the best underfoot
buried inch by inch
pushed under by those with
jungles in their veins
those who always
survive
those who know no answers
but step with confidence
on the courage to question
the precious breeze of the open mind
How we the world
have suffered
from your ruthless
persistent
ignorance
your absolutes
your certainty
The slick arrogance
You use to take
air, water, space
Time, planets, life
How much longer
can we rise from the ashes
how long can we beat
exhausted wings
in this beleaguered air
how can we watch again
the brash thoughtless denial
of all the right questions
the blood spray
from the ripped out throats
of all the delicate everlasting truths
that still rise to point
the way forward
the only way
to rise
and survive
Why do you
who think you know
— hate life so?