for Christa
The Union
of who one is
and who one ought to be
is consummated by suffering.
At times, he who sins against his brother
has forgotten what he has been given.
At other times, it is simple failure.
I can imagine two who, before Babel
enjoyed the benefits of like speech –
understanding, agreement, even laughter.
Now the great event has come,
parting in two even those from
the same womb.
And they just make sounds high and low,
sharp and flat, in the native tongue
that all men know: silence.
Between Cain & Abel
are 1,000,000,000 Milky Ways.
