MEANWHILE & Do not forget the "A" by Tasha Gacutan
MEANWHILE
the angels are packing up the apocalypse
clearing away the rubble and turning off all the lights
one angel stops as they sweep
looks out over the desert
and feels something hot and wet leaking from their
infinite eyes
a boy made of spittle and bones is holding himself
buried in the cold crook of his bed and the wall
on the opposite side of his room his phone screen
flickers; cracked with spiderwebs that
spell out an incorrect name
somebody is driving through a small town
blanketed by fog
they stare straight ahead
crying harder
than they ever have in their life
a dog has lost sight of its owner in the park
a child has lost sight of their parent in the supermarket
a priest has lost sight of what once made the world clear
they bow their head
and raise their hands
and cry at the feet of God
and although God does not respond
outside it begins
to rain
Do not forget the “A”
"a-" means not or without
we lead with our absence
you cry that it is denial --
what you are looking for is not there
(anaemic = without blood)
(atheist = without god)
linguistic subtraction, collapse into
void
what you are looking for is not there
but that is hardly our fault
our range is staggering
a trifecta of meaning
"a-" is on and in and into
"a-" is away and off
we lead with direction
we can march as well
(anaemic = away from blood)
(atheist = into god)
Executive Producers
Hayley Scrivenor
Sue White
