“I have set before you life and death...” Deuteronomy 30:19
by Samantha Holt Stopping—this is what the dead do. And you, roaring as the stitches are ripped out of not-quite healed skin, tearing your flesh
deeper, to the bone
wail with the lusty cry of a newborn. Your chest heaves, greedily drawing breath. The dying—theirs only rattle, a soul that shakes the bars of the rib cage. You taste the bitterness of ashes where your dreams have burned, but still
you stoke the embers.
I see you living, fighting, with the unmistakable vigor of one
who hung
on the edge of a choice, and refused to let go.
LITERARY-ARTS MAGAZINE | 63
