Bondage
by John Sibley Williams
I am afraid my writing the word love
will mean the end of a species.
I am afraid the decision to embrace
will erect another wall around Jerusalem.
If I had wings, flight
might devastate an ice cap.
And if I fail to write, decide,
fly?
If each gesture
lingers flagless awaiting storm for allegiance.
If I am a closed door
in a room with a thousand open windows.
I am afraid even my silence
will explode into consequence.
A candle shattered by the spectacle
of its temporary light.
John Sibley Williams is the author of Controlled Hallucinations (FutureCycle Press, 2013) and six poetry chapbooks. He is the winner of the HEART Poetry Award, and finalist for the Pushcart, Rumi, and The Pinch Poetry Prizes. He serves as editor of The Inflectionist Review, co-director of the Walt Whitman 150 project, and Marketing Director of Inkwater Press. Publishing credits include Third Coast, Nimrod International Journal, E·ratio #17, Inkwell, Cider Press Review, Bryant Literary Review, Cream City Review, The Chaffin Journal, The Evansville Review, RHINO, and various anthologies.
John Sibley Williams lives in Portland, Oregon, and is online at johnsibleywilliams.wordpress.com.
