Shoulders

Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and Earth’s foundations stay.
- A.E. Housman

We said,
let’s hold our shoulders side by side,
and build a wall that goes forever.
This latticework of arms and hands
is stronger than the bending bones,
the straining flesh, the living leather.
More than blood is coursing through
the veins we sprout. A different kind
of sinew lashes minds together.
We stared down fear and fear ended;
Our shoulders held the sky suspended.