All Together Now
—after Zadie Smith
Even if our lives are full of days and we feel
the weight of winter on our shoulders; and even if
the fires burn all around us, flames licking our sandals,
and flirting with our souls; even if creation's groans
grow loud like gongs and crashing cymbals, earth's
cries round mountains and fill gorges, unrelenting like
a ringing in the inner ear; even then, we'll sing.
We'll tease out the fine notes in the musical score,
suppress the mean parts, and we'll sing.
Published: Verse-Virtual, Jan. 2026;