Scaffolding nicked
the sapphire dome that kept
heaven and earth in place,
so the gods came to see
and to temper
their noisiest creation’s
vast ambitions.
Brick, tile, beams,
bodies and embers fell
for days.
Once it was still
every human mouth had found
its own way to name things.
And there were thousands
of new sounds for fish,
heart, stone, I don’t
understand, I love you.
The gods saw all the old
prayers to them fractured
but they could not bend
tongues back again
to call out to them as one.
Published in in Black Lily (Issue 2)