each child 
a sparrow on the mountain 
attended by ghostpipe and yellowjackets 
each woman cherished by her children each father beloved 
nagasaki hiroshima new york city everywhere burning occurs 
along the 10th parallel the christo-islam nightdays war of nigeria the sudan 
somalia indonesia malaysia the philippines at ground zero o land water oil love 
o windbird she said o wounds of God command us not to be afraid 
remember we are the least of these 
for everywhere the mature atheist believer understands kindness 
while the hard believer atheist has contempt and below 
contempt cruelty each atheist believer i we each dead but alive 
for beauty is wellbeing crux cruces coeur corpus the soul o Anima Christi 
with plain old parricide infanticide in our pockets o death hang and body kiss 

                                                                 iv.5 
                                                                  —for Makoto Fujimura and Eliza Griswold 

Shann Ray | Atomic Theory 432, iv.6
Contents | Mudlark No. 64 (2018)