the poem at the end of the world

is the poem the little girl breathes

into her pillow     the one

she cannot tell     the one

there is no one to hear     this poem

is a political poem     is a war poem     is a

universal poem but is not about

these things     this poem

is about one human heart     this poem

is the poem at the end of the world

— from “Shapeshifter Poems”; Lucille Clifton