The dead drink at our tables
remember when they could think /
they watch us curl away like ash / when
we approach the heat of their innocence
/ we think we can hear
them whisper / safe / and we wonder / what
they mean / we know

the dead do not make threats / we know they are evidence
fact that could have been / know they
are impatient / with guilty stabs of might
/ have been / a well-intentioned hand / still

the dead always turn toward us / but
our  kindness / our grief
offers no return for them/

this is the vague feeling we cannot grasp /
their offer to unscrew our lids / release our disappointments /
let despair rain on our desert hearts /
if we
/ welcome what they remind us to feel
/ perhaps we will have time for  one last wish  before we are killed
/ I wish
/ to feel  how quickly we are lost /

yes strong hearts / care carefully now
for all the ones  still living / all we have loved or hated / yes all the hated ones  / all