denouement

how should a human be
in this world
how should we carry ourselves
now
after all that’s come
what language do we use
now
that we might
share the same air
again

our future is
choiceless
we’re strapped in so tight
bracing the rapids of time
our knuckles so white
from jolting eyes open
to rolling them shut we hold on –
each tattered nerve
tethered to a
pixel

how should we be
now after all that’s been
when the only thing holding us in
is our thin bruised
skin