embers

messages from the embers 
grow silent and 
blinding

out of silence:
all ash
cinder
and dust 

out of blindness: 
there is nothing 
and nowhere 

left to stand
on these receding 
shores

reclaiming enclaves 
from flooding seas
and camp raids 

millions displaced
and hope is none
the wiser

it is wet with grief 
and there’s something 
in the water 

but no one said 
it was clean 
or natural 

like made up 
customs and 
borders

like the fallacy of the
global south
and plundered riches
of western culprits

but at least 
the weather belongs to 
everyone

here, in the future 
it’s so quiet 

we could pretend it was 
just the wind 
but what does that signify

if there is no apparent death
of our nature
when we are nature

and nature imprints itself 
back into the 
earth?

lh
sept 2022