The tree fell. The shaking of the ground happened while you were asleep.
Never going back.
Have you ever been the canary in the coal mine? Getting sicker, while everyone tells jokes or makes plans?
Have you ever been the canary in the coal mine? Sickened by what others smooth on their skin?
Have you ever answered the question first? Then stopped being able to, or wanting to, as it happened again, and again, and again?
Have you watched an explanation and knew it held nothing? A cake made of air, a selfie of a hollow smile, a portrait of a minute forgotten?
Why weren’t you convinced? My own child, doubting. Giving birth to questioning, that blood bond once pulsing as one. Can there be anything more to try to explain why.
Have you ever watched a dolphin bleed to death?
Have you ever watched something or someone you loved die by degrees?
Are you planning on waking up soon?
Or is the back row as good as it gets?
Or is the group who invites you to lunch your highest dream?
Can you fit into the death cult? Can you forget everything you ever noticed?
Can you run over small animals and not think of their blood on your wheels?
Can you order the expensive entree while children die?
Can you?
© 2025 Alice Severin
