Katie Manning

THE SKY OUTLIVES EVERYTHING. EVEN SUFFERING.

        --(title from Bowa Jahar)

Even the red sauce stain

on the stove. Even stars.

Even the taste of rain.

Even blue. Even paintings

of gods. Even prayer. Even

the lover’s scent. Even time.

Even a pregnant statue. Even

song. Even sun-burned skin.

Even light. Even wind. Even

the hair in a robin’s nest.

Even love. Even plastic. Even

a long-lost glove. Even life

and death. The sky outlives

everything. Even the word

for sky. Even the everything.