I heard someone say
the gunfire was distant.
As distant as what?
I asked in a fit of madness
or something resembling
a graceful idea broken.
As distant as hope
which is further
than hopelessness.
How do you measure these things
in the night
as the distant gunfire
comes closer
and you are busy
counting the letters
in words such as
hope and hopelessness?
Another starts to count bullets
still another
counting those who are counting
there is a rumour
that one can count God’s lies
impossible, you scream,
a scream full of
hope and hopelessness.
I must cease my words
the gunfire is at hand
like a lie from God
that cannot be counted.
Canadian poet, fiction writer, and playwright J. J. Steinfeld lives on Prince Edward Island. His 24 books, include An Unauthorized Biography of Being (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2016), Absurdity, Woe Is Me, Glory Be (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2017), A Visit to the Kafka Café (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2018), Gregor Samsa Was Never in The Beatles (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2019), Morning Bafflement and Timeless Puzzlement (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2020), Somewhat Absurd, Somehow Existential (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2021), Acting on the Island (Stories, Pottersfield Press, 2022), and As You Continue to Wait (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2022). His short stories and poems have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies internationally, and over 60 of his one-act plays and a handful of full-length plays have been performed in Canada and the United States.
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