Bowl of Light - The Argotist Online

if all I can do is hope
If all I can do is hope,
what difference does it
make when they bring guns in
and meaning to kill, they
wear bulletproof jackets,
sleepy animosity,
and unkempt dreams,
all tangled up in teenage
sexual politics
and cartoon morning diatribe
and meaning to stop whatever
it is that threatens,
throw a desk at your attacker
or at the window so we can
get out
what difference does it
make that I am prepared to help,
to sweat my way through walls of
differing perspectives:
what do I know about children dying
in front of you in Sudan, or how,
when you
go to sleep at night
you don't know if you'll wake up
or if it'll be another day
without a shower,
without electricity,
and ten minutes spent in front of
a mirror trying to hide the bites on your
flesh from bugs or needles or
fools
What difference does it
make that I dream a bigger dream
than you have eyes or imagination for,
that I know what you can do,
that I feel the blood flowing through
your veins as delicate as possible futures;