Germ Theory – Poetry by Shanna Maybright

So something foul and fatal can spread
From one vessel to another?
But would it matter if I believed it impossible
Or could ignorance, like toward this new
Germ of truth, shield us from infection?

No, it cannot.
From any depth, the truth comes charging forth.
Through any partition, it will break.
When one hand clasps another
Things are shared between them.
Some foul. But some redemptive.

So let us share the virtues of our company,
And with truth break those partitions
That divide us. They need not trample the
Victors and vanquished both. And God knows
We see the difference.

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Shanna Maybright is, before all else, a loving mother. She is spending her time at home thinking about union and writing about the challenges that face her nation and her people.

For the first time in nearly five years, Vita Brevis is closed for submission. Read the full story here.