We will not negate. We’ll avoid but entirely
when we speak. We will practice addition
and addition until we burst. We will count
bodies and recount bodies and add bodies
and some bodies will count for more than other
bodies for some people and some bodies will break
some hearts the hardest. We will count the hours
and days it takes to find the bodies and the hours
and days it takes to tally the actual count
of the bodies. We will count the pieces
of shrapnel in the skulls of big and little bodies
and the bandages left for the bodies
that are still bleeding and bleeding.
We will count the cries and the last drops of water.
We will count the stones thrown.
We will add up what’s left of hospitals
and schools that were once schools
and roads that are no longer roads
and the rusted keys around dead necks
and the candles lit for bodies
that are maybe still breathing. We will add
the trauma of one generation to the next, and
compound the vengeance. We will count the dollars sent
and the trucks lined up at the border and the number of
nights the drivers sleep on the road, waiting to give.
We will count the bodies and carry the count of the bodies
like pellets of iron in our chests. We will take the weight
and share the weight and speak and sing
and shout about the weight and together try to lift
the weight and still the dead bodies
will never weigh anything less.
Kelsey Dean lives in Wisconsin. Her day job revolves around airplanes but she writes and arts around as much as she can in her spare time. Her work can be found in Gigantic Sequins, Southword, Asimov’s, and Wizards in Space, among other publications. She sometimes posts art on her Instagram (@kelseypaints).
