Someone, Somewhere

At this moment,

As I lie here – awake,

Someone, somewhere

Tosses and turns in the night.

As I take this next breath,

Someone is breathing their last,

Another, their first.

Somewhere, someone is crying

Right now.

Sighing, wailing, screeching

Or a quiet sob.

Someone is lying in pain,

On a road, a gurney,

In a shelter, under a surgeon’s knife

Alone at home, in a forgotten room.

A hurricane is born off the coast.

Earth shakes, wind, fire and water rage –

Somewhere, across the landscape,

Someone has lost everything.

Sometimes, time curls around itself,

a – PAUSE -

boundless, momentary- a gap,

Someone will notice.

Somewhere, creation is compressed

Into a miniscule grain of sand,

Washed up on a deserted beach,

Spit out from a dying sea.

No one noticed.

And then,

I take the next breath.

By Sharon Lukert

September 7, 2023