She was an agile acrobat

on broken rooftops of escape,

jumping into arms euphoric

before pain had time to register.

 

Armies advance across steppes,

houses gutted for sustenance.

Machine guns and home-made

grenades zipping over walls.

 

He dreamed a nest of miracles

a golden goose in the attic;

sad executions on frozen earth

while skies remain indifferent.

 

The world is a tragic dancer

up in blind spaces of oblivion

running into arms euphoric

before pain has time to register.

 

The Cabinet of Heed 42, January 2021, Editor Simon Webster.