So did you after all at last reveal
Your deepest truest wish and write it on
A little scroll of paper and then seal
It with a blob of wax and then upon
Request give it to the sick people who
Sealed it in a titanium container
And dropped it like some piece of scrap down to
The bottom of the sea like a remainder
From your divided self, and those sick people
Smiled and they celebrated and they gained
Power and life from you and they were gleeful
That your sweet wish was easy to obtain
In order to obliterate, like smoke
In gusting wind, and call it just a joke?
Wes Civilz
Wes Civilz’s first book of poems, Sonnets 1-50, came out this year from Burning Palace Publishing. His writing has appeared in journals such as Ploughshares, The North American Review and TrashLight, and he posts writing-oriented videos on Instagram under the handle @wes_civilz. He lives among cacti in the Sonoran Desert.