Everyone, ask the world
for mercy, ask this planet
for forgiveness;

turn your face to the stars,
forget definition and transition
and just let things be;

in the universe there are more
startling and lovely places than this
and everyone ought to know them;

there are places more tender, more
sweet to the touch, and right here
is where we get to know their worth;

if you know their worth you will strive
to keep them close even if you fail,
even if you choke on the ash heaps;

should you fall before them
and you drown in their slightness,
their unworthiness, their triviality

you will still look up at the stars
and wonder at them, even as stormy men
slay you, even as the brutes come down

with perfected bullets and advanced swords
to take you apart they will turn away
from the slaughter and one by one

they will share your dream, will
cower before it; they will share your hearts
bursting then lying still;

they will go home to their children
after all is done; they will sit a long time
in the dark of living rooms

and wonder, if only for an instant,
only for a blink, how stars shone
within you as they stepped to the work

and let swords fall, let bullets ring,
let it happen instead of saying,
“no more. No, no more.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
onward,
T