by Kip Knott
“We are not an authoritarian nation where we
silence people or squash dissent. But…”
—President Biden addressing protests
over the war in Gaza
Whether it rises
from melting tires
or devotional candles
or one child’s body
or a million children’s bodies,
from melting tires
or devotional candles
or one child’s body
or a million children’s bodies,
smoke burns
everyone’s eyes to tears
before it gathers
as the clouds
one faction uses
to construct
their idea of Heaven
and another faction uses
to construct
their idea of Hell.
Kip Knott is a writer, poet, teacher, photographer, and part-time art dealer living in Ohio. His most recent book of poetry, The Misanthrope in Moonlight, is available from Bottlecap Press.