The Witness and the Storm

In the background, she watches
calm, cloaked, distant,
a fish laid bare before her
like an offering, or a truth.
Below, the world unravels.
Faces scream without sound,
beaks tear, arrows pierce,
a dark tide swarms
with a thousand restless marks.
She does not flinch.
Some people stand at the edge of chaos
with quiet eyes and steady hands
observing what others
become inside the storm.
The serene and the savage,
sharing the same breath of paper.

Object number

015.0999