Two Lives, One Morning

Inspired by seeing a photo in a newspaper of a girl who has lost someone to Ebola I was struck with how different her life and ours can and will be.

Fingers probe the coolness, roots like matted hair, stringy, strong

                     Eyes meet eyes, the message is clear

Firmly, gently pulling, uprooting, teasing roots apart

                      I’m sorry those eyes say

A breeze brushes through the trees, leaves tremble

                      Her dress, a man’s vest, hangs on her small brown body

A fat earthworm falls onto the path squirming

                     She feels the hard, dry earth pushing against her thin soles

Damp dark soil crumbs shake out on white stones

                    The smell of chlorine hangs in the hot dry air

Soft dirt yields, sticks, embeds under nails

                   A soul shrivels, darkens, dies

Two plants from one, gently pushed into the ground, equally spaced

                   A hand reaches out, drops, a silent, awkward apology

A broom sweeps the path clean

                    Eyes follow her exit, disembodied, aimless

Move on, forgotten, left to grow alone

Author's Note

I've tried to use a format that builds two pictures simultaneously. Does it work for you or just confuse?