From the Wall

Chiara Bruzzi/ April 4, 2021/ A Collection of Reactions, Guest Writers/ 1 comments

By: Anonymous

A yellow line it drew in my mind’s eye;

A borderland where I sat for answers–

Caesar, our neighbor, waved heartily from

His side of the yellow wall, the gold cross

Swinging from his neck, a torn commandment

Dripping from his lips. I only smiled back,

Since the scenes of the night before still glared:

A thousand shouts of condemnation drove

The son through the door, his twenty years left

To die on the stoop. Caesar’s baptized hand

Cast him into the dark, for his son had

Laid with a man, and Caesar’s merciful

God decreed that such sons be treated so.

“Does the man have no heart, no principles?”

My father shook his head as Caesar left.

“Come in soon, it’s getting late in the day.”

From my roost upon the wall, I witnessed 

The dusk hold parley with light and shadow.

Caesar sat up inside, reciting his 

Verses. From his shaded desk, he likely

Took his darkened yard to be lighter than

It truly was. 

There was clarity in the evening air,

Flowing through the gnarled oak branches above.

“Our light is relative; darkness is the only

Judge of its brightness,” the yellow wall mused. 

The stars, shrouded by day, thus appeared by

Night. So it is, I reasoned. So it is.