Peace

By Alice King

You are afraid of it
You are afraid of it because of what it could do to your heart
Melt it?
Thaw it?
Maybe just a little but not enough to make waves crash
And slam against rock
Bones stone hard
Refusing to be broken are broken
I smell your gas
It burns my lungs and those of my children
My little boy stops breathing in my arms
I would cry but my own breath is being drawn
Into the air before me
I feel a ghost around my neck
Clawing its nails into me
I hear shouts and laughter as I pass
Echoing like fire in my ears
You are afraid of it because it might make me more human
With your flesh and blood on my bones
What do you see when you look back at yourself?
Eyes any color, skin any tone
I flee but the punishments only change
Flesh-hungry bullets to protests in the streets
I am afraid to walk outside
You are afraid I am the one who wants you dead
Yet you ought to know I came because I want to be alive

Alice King is currently a senior at Longwood University, majoring in English, with a concentration in creative writing, and she studies under Mary Carroll-Hackett. Alice is passionate about writing and social advocacy, and enjoys her writing time and time with her cats. Her work has been published in Crab Fat Magazine, Sacred Crow Magazine, and Vending Machine Press.

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Photo credit: Megan Coughlin via a Creative Commons license.