Respite Poem by Odile Frascogna

Run to the edge of the world
As fast as legs will carry
Hand in hand
Stare through the picket fence.

And we'll remember the way
Your voice would sound
Heavy with grief
'You're too sad and sorry, for such a little girl'

And all around, bombs will fracture
Like obsidian dust
And we'll know from the sounds
They'll never respite.

Time to take the animal out back and shoot
And you'll flutter high to the moon
As bright as you are

It will taste like ash on my tongue
It will be lead in my shoes
I'll stay there and smile
Through broken teeth
And broken pride
At the picket fence.