"COUNTING THE STARS "

By Edward Boccia


these people do not feel that they
have to speak the truth.
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

The great masquerade of peace

has wrought havoc with all

our warring preconceptions.

The appearance of peace is nothing

but a dead olive branch glued

to a skull.

Only rats build their lives

eating human flesh, only rats

confirm the deception of appearances.

This whole prison is deceptive;

it’s insane too.

Some of the prisoners are insane.

Torture drives them to it.

Now they walk in circles,

they shout, they bang their heads.

Some think they are saints.

They look forward to torture,

they believe it builds a special castle

in the soul. They hope to climb

the highest tower and gaze at the stars.

Some day they know they will fly from

the tower and travel millions of light years

across a black velvet sky.

One man told me, when he’s out there,

he will count each blinking star,

and blink back.