come to the trees, dear brothers, dear sisters,
let us worship what we fear
where have i been?
burning with el dorado – that golden city glow
over the event horizon.
Fire stretched over it, spiraling eternally –
light may not escape, but god, how good it glows.
You are here, the Most Beautiful Thing i’ve seen –
You are the Graveyard full incarnate
how could anyone look upon You
and not believe in God –
this You
who turns great cities to feathers –
who drags rome to its knees in a heap at Your feet –
even phoenix songs die in the dust
for we all knew this day would come
this Orange Flood to cleanse the earth –
thank god
we’ve lived to see it –
what shall we say to the God of Death?
what shall we say to You?
from ashes,
we came
to ashes,
we return –
—
Jacqueline Gordon is a poet from Northern California and her work has been published with Open Ceilings Magazine. She has a degree in English from UC Davis and graduated with Highest Honors in 2019. She currently lives in Seattle and writes professionally as a UX content designer.
