Owl Calls, Meteors, Clouds of Stars

The problem with holding
Responsibility
Responsible for help

In guiding justice and
Punishing wickedness
Is that, as a substance,

Responsibility
Is malleable, can be
Applied unevenly,

Can be stretched thin. The more
Agents between killing,
Murderer, and victim,

The trickier it is
To use the principle
Of who’s responsible

To apportion sin, and
Responsibility
Dissipates in the wind,

Murdered in consequence
Of many decisions
And so many weapons.

Responsibility
Implies a special case,
Special understanding

Of causation, and cause
Is not something humans
Know they don’t understand.

At wolf hour, in quiet
Canyons, a speck listens
To an owl while watching

Brilliant meteors burst
Through the backbone of night.
Responsibility.