Through silence
When something fell
I saw a smear of red across
The neighbor's leg
The land was dry as dead
He crawled with dripping heels
Trailing black bits followed out of the mound
Clung to the speckled skin where glue blood spattered
I saw a bone, a nail hooked and hanging from the foot of man
I knew he thought it dead
Knelt down
I dipped my hand, an urn
Into the mound
Gathered all the parts together
And cupped my fingers as a cover
I ran faster to the trees whose blossoms
Dried into grey exoskeletons
I climbed from limb to limb
Cracked the oldest spines
Some would snap and some would fall
I knew he thought it dead
When I could see it all
The barren, closed, and dry
The ash took from my palm
And danced down white
Come green! The trees to bloom!
(O hana! Buds, split open!)
Wash the heel of man
And lick the wound