Ceasefire

Decade upon decade hollow words spill
onto the ashen remains of intolerance and ill will
as if man’s disease, words alone might heal.

Like a grief-stricken lover dangling in the eye of hope
surrendering her dignity to the one wielding a rope.
Harrowing, the dance between predator and prey
wickedly swaying under tenuous skies of gray,
clouds bearing witness to the betrayer and betrayed.

The beast rests at ease in his silent abyss
scheming while courting a flicker of faith,
just enough to earn trust in his delusory ways.

How is my sky of black velvet lace stippled with diamonds
and the moon’s gentle grace when hers is worn out
fashioned, it seems, from barbaric threads on a loom so obscene
it spews nights of terror onto those who, at birth
dared toss the dice that foretold their worth?

What lullaby does a mother sing under man’s ceasefire skies?
Do her children believe in the stories she weaves?
Does she flog herself knowing her song but deceives?

I plead with the universe to unfurl from my sky of comfort
tangible hope for her to share with her young ones.
But his ceaseless bravado, a new mandate unfolds
camouflaged in truce while souls decompose.

Perhaps mother and child now inhale a song of peace
clutching one another as their limbs gently release
into the unrelenting embrace of their eternal sleep

With my daughter
and another mother’s child.
Morocco, 2010
Photo by Bernardo de Albergaria

Inspired by the brief ceasefire between Israel and Gaza in May, 2021, “Ceasefire” is dedicated to the innocent bystanders caught in the brutality of war.