For Paula Cooper and all the other children on death row, cir. 1989
How sudden dies the blooming
One instant’s crass confusion
An err of hand
of heart and head
A bent decision then
and now
one instant in the past as
constant present
Rarely out of reach the act
Tethered to some unrelenting
infinite recall
Today’s reality
in yesterday’s precise and fine
detail
One moment’s cruel confusion
carved forever in the spirit’s
tender steel
How sudden dies the blooming
How withered lies the promise
lies the reach
the blind potential
All that lingers in the breathing
Is a warp of understanding
A fist of clear confusion
And a desperate
A frightened
Need
To live ….
From Continuum: New and Selected Poems (Just Us Books, Inc., 2007 and 2014) by Mari Evans. Copyright © 2007 and 2014 by Mari Evans. Used with the permission of the Estate of Mari Evans.