Emergency Operation in Clouds
Songs are too happy, sermons too long.
Poetry whispers through the cream and the fear
until the spin of service calls us to attend.
We raise our right arms and scribble a promise,
asking language to stand in our stead
and fix the burning engines of the underworld.
I am here to say: The white wall is growing.
Even as I speak, our cries
are turning back to themselves.
Author’s Bio
Derek Webster is the author of Mockingbird, published by Véhicule Press, finalist for the 2016 Gerald Lampert Award. He lives in Montreal.
