ground touch

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'Ground Touch,' by Rethabile Masilo 
Last Wednesday a man threw himself under a train,  
and they had to peel him off the rails. One can add 
to tragedy, but nothing can be removed from it—  
you can't stop a road-map of life, and that's what that man  
was trying to do. They peeled him off and laid his form 
on a tarp; covered him with quicklime. After scraping 
the rest off with trowels and other implements, 
they dropped him on top of his own heap, folded the tarp 
into a body bag they dragged away. Always wanting more  
has a cost. But I guess love is the hardest to want more of,  
for it is already at its ultimate; even if there exists today 
no limit to keep it at bay, it is what there is, a dove that flies  
ever so high and can never keep itself fully off the ground 
but must descend, perch, and want to be with earth again. 

	
Rethabile Masilo
They peeled him off and laid his form on a tarp

Location: Paris, France

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