To See, See and Deliver Thee

By Stephen Mead

Who cut that hole in this fence of chain link,

gave such a hopeful opening

with any thorny barbs clipped off

so as to not poke, pierce, snag?

That space has the shape of a benevolent womb

and certainly an infant's or small toddler's passage

can be imagined, hands of protective carrying

meeting  a separate pair on the other side.

Here. Go now. Keep safe-----

Maybe a refugee's dreams

are all in that bundle, a warm breathing

flesh capsule of history, heritage

and the rumored possibility of an unknown better life.

Beyond, see water shimmering and farther shores

of sunniest layers rising orange, yellow, pink

to the bluest of blue skies.

Oh please say that brightness is not nuclear

nor a mirage of Mecca, but a promising light

this present will soon reach.

Stephen Mead is an Outsider multi-media artist and writer.  Since the 1990s he’s been grateful to many editors for publishing his work in print zines and eventually online.  Recently his work has appeared in CROW NAME, WORDPEACE and DuckDuckMongoose. Currently he is resident artist/curator for The Chroma Museum, artistic renderings of LGBTQI historical figures, organizations and allies predominantly before Stonewall, The Chroma Museum