the restless mind ricochets the question what to do / what to do flinches
while need speeds need streaks
past / blurs present / smears future / sparks
now / now / now  at every shock / shock clicks gun cocks

snap goes the flag of future in the gusty panic

is it cold? is it hot? sharp? does it burn? freeze?
Is it      safe?

safe as bullets pushing against the bulk of body
as looking straight in the eye of the hollowed-out mind starved for food for mercy for recognition / safe as
pain
smiling its story through old scars
as fear hefting all its weapons  / loading all its history
safe as history slammed into the bulk of body

In a protracted instant
in a parade of simultaneous and precise movement
in a celebration of destruction
the sky cracks open
weather watches arched anger poke its finger through the sky

everything flashes into black and white / presses against the back of the eye
burns into the curtain of the brain and the mind flames up in a whooshing instant
when the sound of war falls upon the world
with the weight of all the driven air
weight of all the air and all the water piled up poised to crash
when the sound of mighty brass war falls upon the world again

in this advent of adversity survivors search with fingers of heart their stony rubble
cannot count the loss

missing eyes / missing skin / missing bone / missing breath / missing

and still the desperate bloody go on  go on still
despite
gaining            gaining             gaining                         loss      loss     loss

Poem by Jo Mariner / Photo by Sion Edwards