Rummaging Through The Rubble
How did it begin – this invading
terror where people did not stop
their bullies until bombs dropped
and bullets seeded ill-will and
despair? How will it now end?
If I did not believe we could set
a few things right, I would not
be here, fighting to maintain some
sense of order when fretful thoughts
troop in like tattered soldiers and
emotions dull or die. What survives
becomes a secret memoir to hide or
an open chronicle to keep with living
symbols to draw from and decode:
See how that casement window,
tilting toward a pure perspective,
remains intact, and how the live-
stock leaves the basement rubble
to breathe and breathe and breed,
and how the blood-tiled rooftops
of these ancient buildings gape
open, looking up, and how those
wrought-iron gates, unhinged, now
stand aside, unhindered, their fret-
work black-laced and unlocked
beneath the graceful branches of
that olive tree.
Mary Harwell Sayler‘s bio:
Mary Harwell Sayler began writing poems in childhood but, as an adult, wrote almost everything except poetry! Eventually she placed three dozen books in all genres including poetry and how-to books on poetry and writing. She also maintains the Poetry Editor blog and provides resources for poets and writers on her website. Recently she collected almost all of the prayers in the Bible from many English translations, paraphrased them into contemporary language, and published the Book of Bible Prayers. She then published the prayer book in the King James Version only, the Book of KJV Prayers.