Storm by Kamilah Aisha Moon

Storm

Night squall raging,

black branches

batter every window

as the sky lashes

the city. Without devices,

all I can do is shelter in place—

& wait the latest nightmare

out, find other sources

of power as I sit in the dark

save for a candle burning

for my mother writhing

in an ICU & for the world

to make it against all odds.

In every sense, I burn

in the unseen places, head

filling with smoke, each hour

lived in a dense haze.

Millions weather this

twenty-first-century unholy

Passover, homes

bereft & singed forever.

The unruly rich in charge

deign themselves

gods, maniacal &

merciless. Every warning

unheeded, no bona fide mark

of protection

this time, no choice

in the losses raining

almost everywhere.

Candlelight for two

is a date; I faintly

remember those.

Candlelight

alone

is a séance—

forgive me,

my dearly departed

for crying out

so often, for still needing you

so damn much