I guess the sunset forgot to tell them about its beauty.
Ditto the stars.
Because the evening smells
like gun smoke. And someone’s down,
or passed out. Too much whistling and
forgot to take a breath. No. Look
how beautiful, the night—
dusk cracked
open and growing a strange silence,
blood on the floor
worm in the blood,
body clinging to the soul like a parasite.
I don’t have to say it. You know what I mean.
What I’m asking. Why?
Didn’t they see the sunset?
Didn’t they see the stars?
Melissa Studdard is the author of the bestselling novel, Six Weeks to Yehidah, and other books. Her works have received numerous awards, including the Forward National Literature Award and the International Book Award. Her first poetry collection, I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast, is forthcoming fall 2014. She is the host of Tiferet Talk radio. Learn more at www.melissastuddard.com.