August 30: Grief Awareness Day

Slave Brother, c. 1860

My brother kneels before the master's fire,

and all the creatures of the darkness cease

their plaintive calls, as churlish winds conspire

to quell what should have been our time of peace.

And like a starry pond his amber skin

reflects a thousand beaded silver pearls,

and with a crack his flesh explodes: a din

of horror as a scarlet vapor curls

above the spectral embers; and the cause

of all the misery of humankind

is burning in his eyes.  And then a pause,

another whistling of the lash, a blind

contortion on his face in dying light

as wordless rituals consume the night.