Come Alive

-September, 2021

Just before the downpour,
I thought of Umar Khalid,

and how many days 
he’s spent in Tihar jail.

Later, the still sky clung to us
like a soggy face mask,

and we heard the hard, sharp 
shouts of thin, soaked men; 

we’re all just mud and water 
come alive, comrades—

Come alive, 
we have so little time!