Gali

my heart is locked,

and i'm keeping it for you. 

the chain wrapped around it

still remains from the last time

it shattered. 

i build up my mountains,

and my defenses in my mind.

At school we draw in the margins of our notebook paper

and toy with the idea of moving to Australia. 

We look up the latest news in between classes, knowing that

the teachers will think we're addicted to our phones.

note: partially inspired by Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese" 

        and  for my mom 

i want you to sit and stare at the glistening horizon. 

I hear about all the things he does,

But what can I do?

Signs,

Bumper stickers,

Voices,

Celebrate the end.

For democracy, 

Our country, 

Ukraine, 

the LGBTQIA2+ community,

a lesbian couple on my bus home from school 

a man in a punk battle jacket on the street 

my mother's female CEO group chat blowing up 

four of my teachers taking the following day off 

She wrote until her fingers carved groves in the silence and spoiled the blankness before. Then, she turned to each surface left unwrote and sang. The birch trees wept as she tore back the bark to reveal stories beneath.