Proverbs 4:16

By Philippa Elwin

---

A message to future generations.

We occupy the in-between,

A seam of Start

and Finish

In a double-stitched pocket universe.

We inhale -

– Holding –

– Holding –

– Holding –

Our lungs swell once, twice, thrice

As we wait for the oxygen to run out.

Nation to nation, sea to sea,

Ashes to ashes;

We dwell in the conflux where Life and Death

Hang, suspended in limbo,

The half-second before a baby bird takes first flight.

Like a film from Future Past

– 1933 –

The newsreel flickers.

Warning, unheeded;

We don’t want to see and don’t want to hear.

Please, Mr. President,

Would you help me tie up my blindfold?

Nations United in this liminal space hold hands

As they tip-toe ever closer to the Precipice.

We are Assured our Destruction is Mutual

Balancing on the strangling tightrope of no return.

I breathe in, in, in

– Holding –

– Holding –

– Holding –

Waiting for someone to tell me

“It is safe to breathe out.”