Do not look away
O, scallops and buttercups and
foxtails!
What would we do if you were
taken away?
O, barbershops and bookends and
love seats!
O, backyard trees and jasmine climbing
up the porch and your mother's old
rocking chair from your dad's mom!
What have we done?
I listen to the birds
and the cars on the road and
scratch my mosquito bites
And I wonder how we can watch
through the windows, yawning
on our couches as
A man loses his daughter and
his father and his best friend
since elementary school and
see his wife buried in the ruins
of his home he paid everything for
I wonder how we let this happen
year after year
after decade
after war
after war
after war
Saying it is for the best
saying it is worth it
and they are not
We know nothing of it
we are fools
the blind leading the blind
Leading the masses
who watch wide-eyed
with searing clarity
As their barber
and piano teacher
and mom
and barista
are blown to p
ie
ce s
While we tell them to stay
still
Do you remember
your 8th grade
English teacher?
Did you watch her die?
Try to find someone to take
you to your best friend's funeral?
Could you hear the birds
see the buttercups
taste the honeysuckle
feel the dust of the rubble
settle in your skin and your
teeth and your gut?
O, pediatric doctors and socked feet and
my own bathroom stocked with pads!
O, being able to speak to my mom,
having a bed and a bird feeder
outside my window!
Do not let my knees grow weak
Do not let me become callous
and silent and faithless
I sigh and breathe deep
no alarms ringing
and I have paper to write
And I am begging you
to look them in the eyes
and tell them what you mean
what they mean
Which is to say
I am begging you
to look yourself in the eyes
and do not look away
– olivia gwyn
