Underneath this fiery lapse of eyes lidded of sunset’s doubts
I build this Keep to house all beauty left to me
Softest blue meets the kindest touch of lips tipped in loving breath
The mercy beguiling all hope left rotting on the vines withered of a calloused serenity
Keep the love inside
Keep the beauty hidden from eyes
Keep the voice, what touches softly, the heart
Send the rest below
All tenderness of warmth held tight, now of agonies shades do grow, do flow, from dances of life to touches, softly, death, my soul
In this Keep the rotten remains of splendorous days do assault my ever leaning failures
In this Keep the eyes of mercy fall silently, silently, slowly singing of love undeserving of so wretched this hole
Whispered of futures endured, could I know the unendured
Whispered now, the undertow, of life unenduring, of pain all too enduring
Keep my mind alive with hope
Keep my eyes shut, awoke
Keep the serenity of knowing only
The life that shaped me
Send the rest below to stand in the blood
For below hope dies young
Whispered prayers without changing
May as well bleed their blood ourselves
Nothing can come of advance of God’s without our own hands
Prayer without change is praying for more of the same
We’ve made a science of killing our own
We’re all damned as the blood runs through our hands and all we see, our God’s plans
As I stand in the blood that was shed, all the heartbeats faded, faded, faded
As I stand here below, in the blood, my heart beats have stated, stated, stated, that serenity died upon that day
Writ upon the stone, carved to the bone, that marrows morrows calls home, I have decried all my joy, that ever is now pain, known, sown, thrown as an anchor over a cliff
Keep my fingers woven tightly into yours so tiny
Keep my hope undead for life
Keep the bearer of beauty alive, of innocence in eyes, of pride in my being, the shape of all to come
Send the rest below, where dreams die hollow, unseen by flying obscene angels, followed shortly by false hope sold as a salve
Send the rest below to stand in their blood and whisper their prayers and on the flies may they choke
~ Keep ~
Sam Morris
Written approximately one year ago for the massacre in Uvalde, Texas