Poem for Neda

Poem for Neda

The collective body, bound and severed by our scalpeling minds,
whispering through the blood, the voice of our true mother
what gravity holds us down, what pours us down the drain
Who will bring this body back to life and make it sane?

I fall into my sorry self, descending through the shame
To find a point of silence far from all the shouts of blame
returning to the fertile ground from which I drew my blood
I fall into a pit and find a key beneath the mud

Her nations always falling, together and apart
the exponential replicating clones perfect their art
They tie their children's tongues and mummy-wrap their souls
But deep inside the children color past the lines of old

We'll fall as one into the pit, forever if need be
To finally reach the bottom, and recover the missing key.
We die within ourselves, and resurrect into the world
And soon, by God or no God, we'll be free.

Michael Lockhart