by Imogen Arate
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| Tweet by The Kyiv Independent. |
There is talk of war
in the shushing peacetime
desires for cracking
delineations to self-heal
without tending
There is talk of utopia
in the blunt wielding
of firebombs Why not
destroy to rebuild (make
room for better)
On the bodies of whose
children friends parents
and lovers A question
suppressed or answered
by the jutting of chins
toward the detested
"Other"
though history’s fingers
point to mutual others
who have become as
anonymous as the sides
they took
whose bodies grew
sunflower fields though
their bones still beg
for time to reunite
with the consolation
of a soothing soil
There is paradise
in the overtaking
by tendrils grown
from the dust of war
in the dawning
that we are multitudes
of singular imperfections
who seek out others
to share our wounds
perchance to heal
Imogen Arate is an award-winning Asian-American poet and writer and the Executive Producer and Host of Poets and Muses, a weekly poetry podcast that won second place at National Federation of Press Women's 2020 Communications Contest. She has written in four languages and published in two. Her poems, “A Declaration of Loyalty” and “Sanctuary” placed Second and Third, respectively, in the 2020 National Federation of Press Women at-Large Communications Contest. Her poetry has appeared in 18 publications on four continents, most recently in I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe, Dwell Time, Nude Studio, and dyst. You can find her @PoetsandMuses on Twitter and Instagram.