AFTER THE BATTLE

AFTER THE BATTLE, by Devan Barlow

 

After the battle

forgive, or don’t

it’s really up to you

 

Stare at the scuttling scurrying

life remaining on the sand

watch hermit crabs replace shells

that witnessed conflict

 

Consider what

if anything

you might shed

 

Step into the surf until it’s

up to your knees

Murmur or mumble

your contemplations, conflicts

Whales will feel the vibrations

shake in time with your loss

 

Rest

feel your hands not

holding blades

your senses not

overwhelmed by the

wonder, wickedness

of warring magics

 

Find a balance apart from

the momentum forced by

old wounds

old feuds

old vainglory

 

Notice glinting moonglow

on shells of silver snails

 

Breathe

 

Consult

if you care to

the opinions of iridescent

indigo-scaled snakes

who shush amid the boulders

tasting hurt and healing in the air

 

Serpents process the world very

differently from you

but if the night is kind

you will all notice

the tracing of exhausted wind

against fragrant violet petals

 

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Devan Barlow is the author of the Curses & Curtains series of fairy tales-meet-musicals fantasy novels, and the collection Foolish Hopes and Spilled Entrails: Retellings. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in various anthologies and magazine, and she is a 2025 Hugo Finalist for Poetry. She reads voraciously, and can often be found hanging out with her dog, drinking tea, and thinking about sea monsters