It’s Okay to Cry Everything Holy By Zach Polis
I’m not sure
what kind of
kindness you need
right now.
The Asteroid is coming.
The Asteroid is coming
in particles small enough
we might not notice when it arrives.
Waiting, I suppose —
it’s something to do,
isn’t it?
I know.
Most days I forget my name too.
I can’t remember before...
Before — this.
What was before?
The Asteroid is coming.
So which way now?
Who will be brave enough
to run out for milk?
There’s already so much
I am not invincible to.
It’s okay to cry with the birds.
It’s okay to cry everything holy.
You are not alone in history.
You are not alone in this.
Change is quick.
It’s a comedic routine —
bending with the trees,
trying
to
hold
still
in the wind,
trying
not
to ache.
The forest aches with you,
together, in all your stillness.
You are not alone in this.
You are not alone in history.
The Asteroid is coming.
So which way now?
I would like to know
what happens next.
I’m not sure
what kind of
kindness you need
right now,
but find it.
Take all of this,
and pulverize it
into a salve,
some sort of relief.
Stillness is a salve.
Netflix is a salve.
Waiting is a salve.
Doing nothing is a salve.
Avoiding doorknobs
and crowds is a salve.
Holding your breath in Costco
and crying for your ancestors
is a salve.
Dr. Hinshaw is a salve.
Bleach is a salve.
Lysol is a salve.
Soap is a salve.
A good scrub is a salve.
A limit of 2 is a salve.
A limit of 6 feet is a salve.
One-way grocery aisles is a salve.
Staying at home is a salve.
Nature,
in all its expanse,
is a salve.
All your towering books
and tea is a salve.
Google Hangouts is a salve.
FaceTime is a salve.
Every emoji sent is a salve.
Missing the part of me
that is you is a salve.
This poem too,
this mortar and pestle
is a salve.
Stillness is a salve.
What you are doing is a salve.
What you are doing is enough.
You are not alone in this.
You are not alone in history.
It’s okay to cry with the birds.
It’s okay to cry everything holy.
Zach Polis is a writer, performer, and poet laureate. He is St. Albert’s first poet laureate, acting as a literary and cultural ambassador for the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. His poems have been recognized on Vogue Italia’s PhotoVogue, and he has performed his work on CBC Radio. He is an alumni of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity's spoken word residency. He’s also an RBC Emerging Artist.
Zach is based in Edmonton Alberta.