By Mercedes Lawry
Beneath the ground
a green thunder, roots
weave among limbs
of the fallen, so war
digs and swallows
and the birds still etch
the smoking sky.
Prayers falter, disappear.
How do we watch from afar,
our fingers twitching, our thoughts
but ashes? Hopeless it seems
as the rusty wheel of history
creaks on, repeat, repeat.
Mercedes Lawry is the author of three chapbooks. The most recent, In the Early Garden with Reason, was selected by Molly Peacock for the 2018 WaterSedge Chapbook Contest. Her poetry has appeared in such journals as Poetry, Nimrod, and Prairie Schooner, and she’s been nominated several times for a Pushcart Prize. Her book, Vestiges, was just released by Kelsay Books. Her collection Small Measures will be published in 2024.
Photo credit: KenC1983 via a Creative Commons license.
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