Weeping
To know someone from birth to death speaks the sadness of air abandoning atmosphere. All the children are gone; war calls them adults and leaves the broken ones to mark the graves of the dead with unpainted stones. Their hands bloody from all the burying. The people of God groan through their rage as they dig earth and cover the bodies—without the use of tools—having foresworn weapons and tools become weapons in human hands. But how to live without knife, pitchfork, shovel, fire, water? Everything, even the earth, kills if given the chance. The people of God weep until their tear ducts run dry. They wail until parched throats go silent. They dig their own graves and lay themselves in the dirt, certain the animals and land will commend their being to eternity with or without God, and the children. And God weeps for his people.
Claudia M. Stanek
Claudia M. Stanek’s work has been turned into a libretto, has been part of an art exhibition, and has been translated into Polish. Her poems have been published in her chapbook Language You Refuse to Learnas well as in Cutleaf, Ekstasis, Solum, Book of Matches, Atticus Review,and her forthcoming chapbook Beneath Occluded Shine (FLP 2025). She holds an MFA from Bennington College. Claudia lives in East Tennessee with her rescued dogs.
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Very powerful piece. I have read it multiple times, and each time I find more to appreciate. Thank you, Claudia.