by Michael Roque
We lived within each other.
Brothers and sisters
in stardust
twirled into a single-cell organism.
A billion beating hearts—
one sole rhythm.
A world of beings split—
materialized.
Every street cat,
shark at sea,
mantis on a leaf,
savanna giraffe and me—
flowing through one another’s bloodstream.
The whole of wildlife within—
unrecognized.
Signatures binding us as earth beings
overlooked in a limitless universe
where everything native to this rock is us—
brothers and sisters
long separated,
made consumable.
Pieces of our own soul—
cannibalized.
24 lines
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Michael Roque began writing poetry and prose while studying at Pasadena City College. He has been based in the Middle East since 2013. He is the author of Writing to a Raid Siren (Pomegranate Press). His work has appeared in literary journals including North Dakota Quarterly, The Queen’s Review, The Roanoke Rambler, Poetry Super Highway, and BlazeVOX.