Renew

Renew

After weather

and the eyes of generations

the white house

reveals its rotting boards,

still withstanding

the winter winds

that pulled the cotton flowers

from their knotted fingers.

Once dressed in unbroken white

she has protected

her family

from the typeset headlines

and dying soil,

but now struggles

in pastel yellow,

blending into the horizon

of grass and grain.

We want to bring renewal,

but only the owner

can paint you.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Each's Babylon

Each seeks a tower,

abandoned or built,

unguarded by steel

armor or blades,

to close the divine distance

and increase their view.

Some chisel new clean blocks

from the cleansed and uncovered rock,

while others use remnants,

rounded and covered in moss.

Searching amongst the trees

and city lines,

the tallest options

often are never considered

due to the effort required

to ascend their spirals

before they crumbles.

Some never stay

in one corrugated nest

after seeing the green valley

and shiny steeples beyond.

Few realize that our heads

need only the height

of our spines to achieve ease,

because earth contains 

the common elements of the sky.

-Robert L. Jackson III