[Say “what if?” is more dangerous than “why?”]
By MEH
Say “what if?” is more dangerous than “why?”
that the ability to imagine,
to see all possible worlds collapsing
in two words—a black hole powered by doubt—
will be our undoing. if the knowledge
of good/evil rests in unpicked apples
long before hands raise to answer “yes”
or “no,” nothing is inevitable,
and all “it was/n’t meant to be” is just
wishful thinking to soothe the soul savaged
by the fact that it could have been otherwise:
the unopened letter. the bare stroller.
the dial tone. the silenced respirator.
the bowl in the sink replacing two plates.
MEH is Matthew E. Henry, the author of Teaching While Black (Main Street Rag, 2020), Dust and Ashes (Californios Press, 2020), and editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal. His theological work appears or is forthcoming in various publications, including The Amethyst Review, The Anglican Theological Review, Dappled Things, The Other Journal, Perspectives, Presence, Pensive, Relief, Rock and Sling, Spiritus, andThe Windhover. MEH is an educator who received his MFA from Seattle Pacific University, yet continued to spend money he didn’t have completing an MA in theology and a PhD in education from other institutions. You can find him at www.MEHPoeting.com writing about education, race, religion, and burning oppressive systems to the ground.