Poem 77


Poem 77

( for  birthday July 31, 2020 )



I join my ancestors

in knowing virus, our minds

as sturdy as icy fire

to confirm a universe.



I join my ancestors.

Our tears are stones,

wary-wise stones that break no windows

as they whisper to the wind:

enough, enough of death eternal,

enough, enough of  defensive failures

which offend the dignity of breathing.



I join my ancestors

in knowing  profoundest virus

thriving in icy origins of flame,

surviving in ritual of remembering

an enough, enough for dignity to proclaim.



I join my ancestors

in knowing virus, our minds

as sturdy as icy fire

to confirm this universe, the dignity of breathing.





Jerry W. Ward, Jr.            June 26, 2020

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