Seven Points of Light

Seven Points of Light

When they come for me
Their hands gnarled and twisted
Like smoke in the lungs of a fetus
They will ask me where I have hid you
To what place makes sunlight knock softly at its entrance
Where birth never cries until the blood
Has become visible
I will ask them for a tool
A rock hammer
A colored pencil
The name of their worshipped
Anything that will die slowly from constant use
I will use it to trace these seven points of light
From the sky above us
I will tell them I buried you alive there
That you smiled
When I pulled the black over you
That you felt you were too good
For soggy Earth and sad songs

I will tell them you were right

That I tied a boulder to my ankles
And dove into your yes
That I have raised six kitchen knives
That are just like you
That if it weren’t for their intent
People could tell they were your brothers

Gentle ladies of consequence
Do not let your daughters trip into these shallow graves
When you smile flash floods
All your regrets will wash up around your ankles
Like smoke at the base of twin buildings
Like cigars vanquished in the mudslide of a bully
To these docile men of Cicero
And the thunder of legions who don’t remember home
Try as you might
To avoid dropping your sons into these square emporiums
They deserve a soldiers demise
A promise that ties itself to your ribcage
Like a kite fueled by the winds in your chest

We’ve made a habit of burying our young
In a planet that is dying itself
We plant magnolias in the Sahara
And expect orchards
Call our children Jupiter
As they are galactic in our eyes
That will only fail at being stars
There is too much sky to be undisturbed
And left vacant
Too much of everything
To ever assume we are alone

When they come for me
Bury me six feet above the ground
Let my spirit dance with a prevailing wind
Do not obstruct me with brick walls
Do not bar my entry into the ether with skyscrapers
Or telephone polls
Knock down these billboards, these voting booths
Group homes and parking garages
Bring your bulldozer
Your wrecking balls
Your colored pencils
Your fallen stars
Your matchbooks and create absolutely nothing
Where everything can exist
Till we have mass graves floating around our hips
Till cemeteries are opening doors for those that still walk
The earth
And remind them
They never really left us
When they ask you why
When you have pushed the last lighthouse into the embankment
And they ask you why you have done this
Tell them there is still life floating around us
Tell them no fence will ever stand between you
And your mothers face when she says your name
So softly
The gunpowder in your ears shies away from the spark

When they come for you
They will ask you where you have hidden me
Tell them that I am not hidden
That they should not disturb the earth on my account
That I am amongst the living
Because you
Never forgot me