by Kevin Vivers
The Gospeler of Happily Ever Afters
Shooting stars that carry death wishes
and rainbows that belong to brimstone
splinter from the spectrum of light
to sight the edge of the universe
where the bodies of lost kites spark
and their lines are like snapping wires
and to the gatekeepers
denying the rusted hinges movement
like stilt walkers scared of gravity,
sitting in the skulls of stillborns
and telling the mothers to go home,
swallowing flowers and flossing
their teeth in the withering spring,
measuring mercy with teaspoons
and dispensing it with tremoring hands,
fencing their fancies with ancient fire:
I was born to play with fire
and this poem is my scar
I’m a rainbow
longing for the storm so I can
be the ultimate rhapsodist standing
on the edge of the universe, watching
planets carve crowns out of candlewax
to coronate the sun and salvaging words
from the wreckage of time.
Dzikamayi Chando is from Gweru, Zimbabwe. His work has appeared in Barren Magazine, The Rising Phoenix Review, The Daily Drunk Mag, Praxis Magazine & The Kalahari Review. He’s on Twitter @dzikamayic.
Kevin Vivers has been a photographer for over 40 years and his photographs capture all the people, buildings, trash, and possessions that are a part of our every day lives, even as we may pass them by without giving them a second thought.