Before slavery,
oceans swept away
shadows
of sand pyramids.
Before peace,
there was just volcanic
ash on the seabeds-
the color of Confederate
gray, like the eyes of a lost husky.
Before the masters of war,
there were border walls made
of barren clouds, ribbed and lifeless-
above a million stillborn valleys.
George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, the Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, the Havana Times, the South China Morning Post, the Buffalo News, and more.