Ennis Rook Bashe

What To Do Next

Well, the world is ending
as it did.
But before gun barrels shove into mouths
where only popsicles should go-
someone needs to teach the abandoned puppy how to walk on a leash,
someone needs to empty the dishwasher,
pick up the Big Gulp lids from the turtle spawning grounds,
rub sunscreen on the wiggling toddler. Scoop the litter. Feed the birds.
Someone needs to make the bread. Sell the band-aids. Deliver the ice cream.
Take the late shift. Hide the neighbors. Watch the sky.
Someone needs to remind us what color dawn is,
when our barbed wire fenced-in souls know only clouds.
Someone needs to make them waste time and bullets and words
and send cruelty grumbling home to reload.
Someone needs to wish on whatever dandelions are left.
Someone needs to be the pine tree
standing tall in silent snow.
Someone needs to become
even harder to kill.