Reverberations
Art by Heather Doram, Antigua and Barbuda
What does it sound like
when the earth craters
swallowing
like a snake meeting prey,
whole and without warning
the laughter and tears of babes
(Can you hear them sing over the bombs)?
Ashes unnatural, missing marks of time
names scribbled hopefully instead
to be recited over and over by the living’s
attempts at resurrection
Aftershocks of their absence
echoing in the forests
hollow, hallowed be their souls