How to look at the sky

it seems possible to go through life without ever glancing at the ground.

don’t bow down.

i bowed down with my head as they ordered me to do,

aimlessly.

i looked up at the sky, again.

the sky was made of all shades of grey.

i may trip and fall if i keep walking the streets without ever looking down.

i looked up one more time and was struck by how grand the sky seemed.

i felt that it belonged to us all. i had searched everywhere for tenderness.

we seem to be in the same space, looking up at the same sky, and sharing the same air.

some of us stare up at the starless, cloudless sky.

but someone told me that their sky was covered with smoke from bombs and with noise.