Severance Poem by Claudia Krizay

It was in
The late afternoon
On this sultry day in late summer, that
I heard
The sirens
Screaming,
At that time
I heard
A voice
Call from afar.
Not one sound was present, except
For the singing of crickets
And the sighing of maple trees;
Late summer, it was the time
Of the rising of the dead,
The falling of the leaves,
Stark, green, and envious,
Though shamelessly transforming into a
Putrid, mottled brown mass
Falling haphazardly into a heap onto the
Yellowing grass below.
Hiding beneath were the sparrows,
Playing their flutist’s music,
As wild violets wafting in the gentle breeze
Sang their tune in accordance.
The screams of the sirens were shrill and high pitched.
Closer and closer
They became, though they did not muffle the voices
I could still hear from afar-
Quiescence was shattered, as
Flutist’s music intensified,
Church bells sounded at vespers-Almost cacophonously,
Nearly off-key, they were, in their sound.
Crickets carried their tune,
Leaves –sea green and as damp as new moss
Metamorphosis into gold and red,
Not regal, though, daunting
As insects skated across the nearby creek,
Elusive as they could be, they lived without a care.
In that nearby churchyard, I stood, where
I could hear my calling,
A voice invoked my name, - my mission…
Sirens, shrill, were still shrieking,
Closer they came, as
Summer turned to autumn,
I was surrounded by the
Dancing of high reeds intertwining and
Towering fir trees.
Within this late summer’s squall
I was to be swept away.
I could still hear voices calling from afar,
No one was present- although
Always obedient, I was to their lurid commands.
Stark, green and never envious
Was the foliage upon the trees
Where I would hide in solitude behind a thicket,
Listening to the sparrows’ flutist’s music of the
First born.
Thunder would clap and obliterate the sound
Of the approaching sirens, no matter how close,
I could always hear that voice calling from afar,
Church bells were ringing.
Somewhere in that churchyard
I would hide- at vespers praying for severance
From fear, at that hour,
I heard my calling,
At that moment they had come to
Carry me home…


Claudia Krizay