Galaxies Away

1. Their Heads Were Chopped

I remember when the flowers

were once good children

good boys and girls

that played in the sunshine.

They were babies

that knew to behave

and to stay rooted

into the ground.

Until their heads were chopped,

tied in bunches,

sold, and put on display.

I remember

when I thought

the snakes were once

good teachers

who led the ingenue

to the tree of knowledge

and gobbled the rats

that swarmed

the holes in the walls.

Until their heads were chopped,

their scales were skinned,

sold, and worn around our waists.

I remember

when mockingbirds

were once good singers

with voices that

rang high in the spring

and it was a sin

to lay filthy hands

on a single feather.

Until their heads were chopped,

They're feathers plucked,

sold, and sizzling in our cooking pots.

I remember

when people were

good men

and good women,

people who pushed each other

to the sky

with their arms stretched wide,

with their minds opened,

leaving their palaces

and prison cells

with a melancholy kiss goodbye.

Until their heads were chopped,

Their corpses eaten alive,

sold, and hanging like dolls

in Satan's playhouse.