ghayn-faa-raa by Rick McElhany

​​It’s such a heavy darkness humans forge
within that crucible of us and them;
endless nights and days with dismal mornings
pass, as foes devolve from abandoned friends.
Echoes only prove sounds once existed -
even those that hinged on novel sources.                                  
Meaning can’t emerge from mere insistence,
no matter how masterful one’s course is.
Each simple act of choosing sides has costs,
with no attention paid to other’s ways;
we lose more than we pocket when no trust
is tendered. There is much to be displayed,
as shown in one rich root from Arabic;
when we forgive, we set each other free.


Rick McElhany is a retired Data Processing professional who was once described by a colleague as that rare mix of person who one could imagine wearing both a poet’s beret and a pocket protector. He has had short stories and poems published in regional publications and online journals, including Potpourri, Thorny Locust and Flora Fiction.