If tomorrow
the world ends, as so highly advertised
by those who prophesied, and those who lied,
and lastly, finally,
those who cried
then (nothing) I wake (I’m wide awake) like today, the same as yesterday
If tomorrow,
I listen to the rooster crow,
at the appointed time, the rising sun at the root of the crime,
in the darkness, I also hear the chime
of a single bowl
as she sits in meditation
then breakfast with mouths full, the regurgitation of the chaotic fake news that hasn’t changed,
we find the world’s rearranged
If tomorrow
the grass looks greener
than it has before, and the stories at bedtime
seem like the run-of-the-mill lore
and the nanny government sounds like
the fabric of time just tore
then I was awake peeling back my blankets aching for the curtains to open that I could not reach,
yet I desperately tried
If tomorrow
I drove to Cheyenne all by myself
while reading my favorite book from off the dusty shelf
turning the pages just to see crystal blue skies above the blur of fields,
an imaginary grand wizard and tiny elf
but unlike the fiction, in a mushroom cloud
the city was gone, like burgers and fries,
dribbles of ketchup in my eyes
then I threw the plaid Scotty’s wrappers to the car floor, stopped and got out,
deciding to walk, my lungs coughed out in a blaring wild shout
If tomorrow
a mother gave birth to me
again, and again, life after life, in which I thought I was free
in the order of children, I was third and three
though less than blind, I couldn’t see
reciting and rhyming the words (in this poem) until you might agree
that you’re wrong, left and right, like a topsy-turvy boat
out at a frothy, stormy green sea
then you toss anchor in the calm purple waters the size of a polka-dotted universe
where the ocean laps like a fine breed, from a manufactured storm seed,
finding such peace and still savoring the taste of early morning coffee
If tomorrow
You are gone
You are alive
You are done
You thrive
You feel me, and I you
then I know for sure,
then I know,
in my drum beating engorged heart,
beating out loud (so loud) for the world to see
there is love.
Frank Marquez Writings 