The angels have been weeping
for much longer than we have.
Today’s headlines do not catch
them by surprise. They have caught
women falling from fright
falling from the souring
of adrenaline after fighting off
the last person in the world
they thought they would have to fight.

The angels have been weeping
since the dawn of man
since men were given power
over women & children — or took it.
They have seen power corrupt
again & again, knowing full well
that only true communion heals.
Communion of the saints, not hierarchy. The arch
angels know this particularly well
only grasping power when God insists
& letting go of it the first chance they get
(the handle of a flaming sword burns, too)

The angels have been weeping, & weep still
today, joined by us who wake to new headlines.
They could tell us about the fall of legends
they know the epic tales, but know, too
the quiet trauma not often written
of the women these falling heroes fall
against, burning them like kindling,
like a minor character, a side plot

But the angels know the powerless
are at the center of God’s Eye
the center of the universe
though the headlines
speak only
of corruption
& power.