Heaven and Hell
Heaven + Hell
are estranged sisters
eyeing each other
across uncrossable distances.
Each gathers her allies
mutters darkly about the other.
Envy might glint, sometimes, in their eyes.
Heaven plants her roots, sends up fronds
sweet green shoots
and harvests ripe.
Hell skims lightly over the world
undoes bindings.
Heaven seals
with honey and wax.
Hell dissolves,
molecules sigh into their component parts.
Heaven keeps a tidy yard,
bakes fresh bread,
remembers.
Hell, she walks out the gate,
leaves salty footprints (no backward glance)
in her wake.
She forgets.
(From a classroom prompt based on X. J. Kennedy's fantastic poem, "Nothing in Heaven Functions as it Ought." I had the kids brainstorm connotations and denotations of heaven and hell, and compare them to the Hawaiian concept of the afterworld, Keaopo, which is non binary, non-human, and plural. There's one on every island.)
are estranged sisters
eyeing each other
across uncrossable distances.
Each gathers her allies
mutters darkly about the other.
Envy might glint, sometimes, in their eyes.
Heaven plants her roots, sends up fronds
sweet green shoots
and harvests ripe.
Hell skims lightly over the world
undoes bindings.
Heaven seals
with honey and wax.
Hell dissolves,
molecules sigh into their component parts.
Heaven keeps a tidy yard,
bakes fresh bread,
remembers.
Hell, she walks out the gate,
leaves salty footprints (no backward glance)
in her wake.
She forgets.
(From a classroom prompt based on X. J. Kennedy's fantastic poem, "Nothing in Heaven Functions as it Ought." I had the kids brainstorm connotations and denotations of heaven and hell, and compare them to the Hawaiian concept of the afterworld, Keaopo, which is non binary, non-human, and plural. There's one on every island.)
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