"This Is Not the End But It Is an Ending" by Tyrel Kessinger

This Is Not the End But It Is an Ending

We are dying and of course why would anything ask us not to.

We’re the best at what we do, by which I mean feeding the fire,

which is to say: give the destroyer something to destroy and it will be destroyed.

We sow the salt, watch the ice calve, the blue of the earth crawl like spilled cream.

The making of things, the orphaning of things: the national pastime.

Meanwhile, mothers and fathers stand by helpless,

breathless and angry, threaded with guilt,

cursed by the awful laws of nature and the weighty history of white men,

forcefully advised to send their sons and daughters into a world

never not sharpening its knives.

Meanwhile, in the sky the stars look inches apart

and the moon continues to hang itself. Can you imagine:

the loneliness of such things?

tyrel kessinger

Tyrel Kessinger is a stay-at-home dad of two wild animal-like things. His work can be found here and there, with more forthcoming from Washington Square Review, Crab Creek Review, and Wilderness House. To read all his many viral tweets, look no further than @KessingerTyrel.

Headshot: Tyrel Kessinger

Photo Credit: Staff