Still Life
by Aaron Schultz
I want a switch, a giant circuit breaker
Grab handle with both hands, throw it up
Break the circuit, break the seizure
Stop the pain, stop the shock
Restart the heart, keep my daughter
from this brutal callousness
called normal
This is not the world I’ve worked to create
This is not the world I’ve worked to give her
This is somebody else’s twisted vision
Forked tongue devils exhaling fear and cruelty
into reality so they can feed their young
with our children’s holy bodies
I want a switch, a giant circuit breaker
I want the world to pause for a day
And listen
For the lost heartbeats