WHOLE PELICAN

WP—3
10–28–25




County Clare, Ireland

Inheritance
by Chris Andrew


Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia
County Clare, Ireland

That is justice, an anchor at scale,
as seldom as rhythm woke in bells
and as careless as stupor, deeply corporal.
Serfdom holds water
in an argument over resources—
leans forward and sighs, exhales into the future—
prays at the altar of a godless land in wonder,
“Never would I have imagined this.”
The bits and pieces are details of acquittal
—like crumbs are details—
but justice and fairness decry pointillism
as expert slaves
remind us how old the days
of living in dominion.
There is no honesty like the honesty
of a pair of eyes in yours and hands,
in coordinated havoc,
having their way with research, investigation—
and judging by the scale, anchored in the spell of loved ones.
Our joined hands, lost in labor’s hours,
find intimate seconds in circadian margins,
challenging the notion
that transcendence is an idyll, not an action,
and as seldom as rhythm woke in bells.




© Chris Andrew