I Will Stay Alive
Because all we have
is where we came from,
wind promising to return
with your name in its throat.
Because God never held
her face, her steady breath
lit by small grains
of silver. Because prayers
can be re-written, authored
and enamelled by the same
hands that forged oceans
into body. Because your mother
will die only once, but live
into thousands of bright-spun
days. Because there is another
world shimmering atop the river,
where even your father
’s body, burning, can be
beautiful. Because to reach
the bottom of yourself means
the light is always
above you. Because there are
so many ways to leave
and yet you stayed,
you stay.
John Pring is a poet and author based in Brighton, UK, where he is currently studying for an MA from the University of Sussex. He has work published or upcoming in MONO, Dolorem Ipsum, Qu Literary, Letter Review, Banyan Review, Tomahawk Creek Review, Cathexis Northwest Press, and others.