Sheltering

( Tanka )
 
 
sheltering in place,
becoming life that will stay
on shallow fault lines
 
I know we will be alone,
the breakers keep us apart
 
◽️ ▪️ ◽️
 
I hear every thought,
po’etry that soothes, he’als
in uncertain times
 
a tsunami pulling back
but we know it will return
 
◽️ ▪️ ◽️
 
is this coming next,
living from a paper box
nowhere else to go
 
silently the rain shivers,
soaking masks, falling apart
 
◽️ ▪️ ◽️
 
but I can’t be there,
I leave the box to find food
limping past the lines
 
and everywhere the bodies
still alive they don’t see me
 
◽️ ▪️ ◽️
 
the sky caving in
my childhood canopy falls,
is everything lost
 
will birds rebuild their nests,
pity me, sheltered in place