May 31st

I sit on the porch
in the soft morning air
wondering
what fires rage today

Entire worlds turned upside down
breath caught in throats
sorrow turning to ash on our tongues

But here
the same leaves still rustle in the breeze
the same flowers bloom
the same cars are still parked in their same places
as yesterday

And I wonder
how can this world be
how has this world not crumbled in grief
how has it not been torn to shreds

how can we go on
like this is just the way it is
how can we ask so much of people
to hold this pain
bursting at the seams

how can we

We set fire to souls
and then ask them to burn
where we can’t see