Silence

One heart beats,

To the clicking of the clock,

To the clicking of,

The trigger before the silence falls,

Like drops of ice-cold blood prickling the air,

Still waiting for an answer.

One heart beats,

Louder than the screeching crunch,

Of broken-glass windows,

That cut open past sores,

Of Dallas, of Orlando, of San Bernardino,

Of those ripped into the sombering

dreams of

a forgone future.

One heart beats,

Despite the panic that seeps,

Into the ground, like brittle rivers of blood,

Roaring;

One heart beats,

Against the emptiness that crushes,

The world into the pressing question of blame,

Haunting;

One heart beats,

While others falter,

Lost in the terror of boxed-up corners,

Restraining;

One heart beats,

But it is not ours,

for silence falls,

when the world forgets,

to speak