Still

Some horror rocks the earth off its axis
and we are never the same again
nor should we be

Still, we are willfully, woefully forgetful
shielded by ignorance and distance
halfway across the globe
with no memory of orange blossoms
no feeling for the olive tree at dusk

Still, we are one organism
breathing, dying, killing, knowing

We change the channel
choose disinterest
still, the children, they will haunt us
coated in dust
of their homes, their dreams
their teasing sweet siblings
barefoot and bewildered in the streets
bombed from dream to nightmare

Rubble cannot speak
still, the stillness of death can
still, the bloody donkey with her sad eyes
caught forever in the camera’s gaze
who stands to bear witness?
while the world scrolls and trolls
arguing in the comments over
who suffers more

Still, I pray your home
never becomes a grave
your living room
a place only for the dying

Still, we are one organism
breathing, killing, knowing

what must we do, to go on living
on this tilted axis?
what must we do
to save one
another
from each
other?

.

Larena Nellies-Ortiz is a Mexican-American-German poet and photographer from Oakland, California. Her poetry has been featured in Bitter Melon Review and Eunoia Review and her photos have been featured in The Sun Magazine, Barren Magazine, Indianapolis Review, Burningword Literary Journal, Stonecoast Review, 3Elements Review, Local Wolves Magazine and Change Seven Magazine. You can find her on Instagram @lowriter_ and @lalifish.