what he would tell the child he never had

By Kevin Kreiger

because the cataracts of dismay
are in fact finiterisk everything. assume
the reality you have so bravely
embodied is undone.
assume death has you
in its breathless sights
long before your breath
begins to fade.
because they thrive solely
on our willingnessassume nightmare & multiply it
again & again.
if you survive this,
the journey may unveil itself.
because there is
no proof of a hereafteryou will find your legs
unbound, tendons
relinquishing their taut
repose, oxygen seeping
into corners it has not
known in lifetimes.
because no god will
make itself unequivocally knownthe fear of course will recoil,
strike madly into the space
you have distilled.
because there is
no prime for being humanwhat you don’t know is
it cannot attain your flesh.
it can only hope its venom
will burn across the gulf
of memory & despair.
it can only pray
you will be fooled
into thinking it is you.