Ninety-Five

The bridges twist and shiver
Before they snap like straw
Whose ends have been pushed too close
to one another

and I whisper in your ear
"This is how the world ends"

Alert the Sky
The Ground has opened
and has begun to swallow jet planes
and steam mills
and all those things we stood upon

as we shouted
"This is how the world turns"

Our boat is gutted and torn
The sea which at one time
carried this machine upon its back
now stretches fingers into its belly
as the clouds applaud and shout 
This vessel holds us close
as it submits to the earth's desire

and I whisper to you
through the cracks between each finger
"This is how the world ends"

You take my hand
and say
"The world will not end in fire
or water
or earth
but in the space between your heart and chest
that place where kindness lives and dies
lives or dies..."

"What is the sound of redemption?"
I shout
"What stretches forth when it is struck
What resonates through the staircase
of a cracked and rotting lighthouse
Who cannot but lead a sinking ship to shore...."

I opened my hands
from clenched fists
And they were covered in dust.