When I was five years old, I tripped and fell while holding my pet chicken in my arms and smashed her to death. Oftentimes when I write or pray, I think of her. As I would imagine it would for any child, her passing caused a tectonic shift in my psychological landscape and led me to wonder: Why do we as humans find death to be so unexpected? Even in the midst of universal chaos, each living being has two things in common: we all come from somewhere and we all end up somewhere. This poem entwines introspection, Tsalagi mythology, and Christian record. The writer and the speaker seek answers in examining creation, demise, and the idea that even as our world trends towards disorder—we are all inextricably yoked together at two points: the beginning and the end.
Cover image credit: "Buzzard - Explored :-)" by Airwolfhound is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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