Before, I was never afraid.
I had no understanding
of fear because I had no understanding
of death.
I lived in a constant kingdom.
My son lives there now,
and sometimes I visit him. There are rules but the rules are just.
What you knock down must be built again.
Towers rise and fall
and rise again
under his careful hands, which also shape arches
and tunnels for trains.
Before my son was born, I lived in a constant
and I was the constant I lived by.
I built nothing I loved so much
I couldn’t tear it down again with pleasure.
When the two towers fell
the rules seemed changed
but the rules weren’t the same
from day to day and then
we forgot. I had no understanding.
Death was a place
I visited through friends and family and tv
but could always leave.
My son has never been.
For him, when people fall down,
they pop back up,
still smiling painted smiles.
The train follows a circular path
and the fallen rocks
on the track are lifted by an unseen hand.
The now I live in now
is a constant future,
where fear is understanding
he must put down his crown and suffer
this strange land where nothing is constant,
not even understanding.
"Reverence" is published here with the kind permission of the author.
The ALL Review is pleased to present our How to Live series, poems chosen to help readers navigate these difficult and rapidly changing times.
