Elegy

they say          
manufactured instability
when what they mean is that
she will wake to a Bobcat
where the swings used to be
and she will watch
as they take the trees and the tulips and even
the late summer nights of
flags and fireflies and neighbors

they say          
eminent domain
when what they mean is that
the asphalt is coming
and the neighborhood will
soon
be haunted by ghosts that gather
in the rubble of their dreams
and wonder at the highway
instead
 
they say          
planned obsolescence
when what they mean is that
a boy is counting fingers
and also luck
in a mine that
glows on
in our pockets and our palms
while we ignore the encroachments of
greedy heat--
beyond repair
                                               
they say          
technological innovation
when what they mean is that
a bayonet has become
a bullet and
a bullet has become
a drone and
a drone has become
a policy and
the mother in tent #107 has become an
accountant
of losses
 
they say          
collateral damage
when what they mean is that
a woman will watch a soldier
shoot her husband
in the back
and the next town over will be forgotten until
the old men are left face down
in the dirt
and a girl will cross borders
after rape but before child
and wonder if birth, too, is an act of war
           
they say
thoughts and prayers
when what they mean is that
you will look for something
impenetrable--
a steel post
your classroom door
a dresser in your bedroom--
when you realize that the guns are coming for
you, too
                       
this is why I long
instead
for language that is precise--
a perfect staccato note to punctuate
our crimes,
like a triangle ringing true,
nagging us with our own intentions and
interrupting us as we try to hide
behind words
that trade cruelty for
righteousness
 
because maybe:
a bird is still a bird
and a laugh still marks joy
and a sunset still means there is hope for a crescendo of color.
because maybe:
our words, at least, still have meaning--
even if they try to tell us that our lives,
certainly,
do not