Parallel

white in the dark, black in the white.

dark in my eyes, light in my heart.

my world collapsed

tell me, what of yours?

white. black.

white. black.

white?

black?

i once believed the world was woven in pairs.

white and black,

life, then death.

it turns out

there is no white, no black.

it's just red.

no life, no death.

we are on hold.

you speak of the future.
we cling to the past, afraid to forget what made us.


you speak of hugging your parents.
we press our faces to their stones.


you speak to your children about their dreams.


we whisper to their coffins in the cold silence of morgues.


you speak love to your friends.


we live farewells, again and again.

you speak of life

we endure survival.

you don’t speak our language.

not our pain,

not our grief.

so we write:

in silence,

in ashes,

in red.