Haru
2020-12-08

***

the entirety of the heavens
all spinning through the darkened sky
so visible since the lockdown began
severed from car lamps and street lights

not that it is safe to saunter
through these shadowy streets alone
so I barricade myself in the first room I can find
and watch pedestrians' computer screens glow

an ocean of potential portals to Hell
retrofitted with keyboards and such
I can't be the only one responsible for this mess:
the burden would simply be too much

I scour my inner regions raw in the shower
to punish myself for feeling
and then, come blood, curse my land
not given time for healing

this crimson flower that graces my shoulder
seeks out the rivers that run in my veins,
the opening to Yomi that feeds off my pain,
convinced I won't live long enough to grow older

had I existed a thousand years
earlier, these fingers might have been
spent weaving reams of fabric, worked
to the bone, to the point of tears

but a clock hails above me, ticking down to nil
if only I had batteries so my purpose I could fulfill

***

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (c) Vane Vander