Diary of a Seed
a necessary violence my brother and i bear a face that we can’t remove his beauty reeks of a lineage sullied so i treat his eyes like the sun they hold me in warmth, thick and honey-sweet, but the fire behind them is one i know it gave all the scars to my heart and left my flesh cold. i crossed seas just to touch the flame a whisper said they’d lick me with salvation we sat on the shore and he taught me to count the waves one, two, three, four there are tears my brother and i can’t shed so we count God’s tears instead he shows me his escape routes but we don’t talk of what we’re running from i hear all the words he won’t say in the wind i taste the blood of his enemies on my own lips the same blood that makes us kin i crossed seas just to touch the flame i returned as ashes saltwater can’t quench my thirst or piece together my fragments the moon is so pretty and so meek, with a dark side we don’t ever see. i fear its face like i fear my own, with all its craters i should break my bones, shed all my layers, but the world doesn’t want to see the gore of these wars they don’t want bombs bursting in air just send thoughts and prayers. 23
