Threads

I’ve been blinded by a blistering light An atomic angel in the nuclear night Have they come to take us away at last? Have they come to punish us for the past? Let me just hold on Hold on to these few threads “Papa, can we bring them Till we get back home again?” I’m here in the wilderness with my kin A makeshift shelter from sticks so thin The kids are asleep so I cradle the gin Alone in the reeds with secretions and sin When morning comes like an atomic cloud When hard truths assault you like bombs so loud Whatever happened to once make you proud Will be crucified like the Face in the Shroud Let me just hold on Hold on to these few threads “Mama, can we bring them Till we get back home again?” Mother and infant, both hopelessly yearning Scraps of subsistence ‘mid garbage cans burning Walk up close to them, their cart full of waste Permanent Babylon — no figure chaste Now does the sex of the child much matter? Will its birthday letters be seen ever after, From up on some small planet’s observing post Its tiny embryonic, cancerous host? I’ve been blinded by a ruinous light A ballistic angel in the wintry night Have they come to take us away at last? Have they come to punish us for the past? Let me just hold on Hold on to these few threads “Papa, can we bring them Till we get back home again?”