Bridges not built

[otherlander]

Bridges Not Built

My parents, speaking of slain flower-song
     say sorrow is
     lead
     joy is helium
     so much of one downed by
     so little of the other
and that the truth of their singers
who were offered- and rejected- 
platters of pretension
but for other souls
such things were never mentioned
other souls say
     cinder block blades
     took my daughter
     man walked out
     not long after 
     but here- my smiling husband
     and here- my son dating weird teenager
Joy helium? Lead sorrow? Sorrow is
soiled oily cloth wrapped around a muscled arm
and joy is its powerful uppercut to the jaw
small triumph KO's powerful blows 
daily as a matter of survival.
So much we could have learned, my dear,
but the fighters with the broken feet
are so far from dancers in the wheat
I fear we
     here burn
for bridges not built.