A Suicide
by Barry Ballard


If the earth stood at the edge of its own
ocean, staring across the miles of its
rough water; what deep verdict would it enlist
from the symphony of whale-song, which tones
to vibrate with its voice begging the tide
for forgiveness. And even the shale afraid,
as it empties its pockets of a few brave
acts of kindness, as their particles glide

into the sea-loam of nothingness. Stripped with
its scars exposed, it walks under the last
wild wings about to stop. Swallowed by the salt
of body and blistered by the faintest
light of heaven (and deep enough now to
feel the crush of truth - even without eyes).






Copyright © 2024 by Red River Review. First Rights Reserved. All other rights revert to the authors.
No work may be reproduced or republished without the express written consent of the author.