Peter Crowley is an independent writer and scholar with a M.S. in Conflict Resolution, Global Studies from Northeastern University. He works as Content Specialist/Production Coordinator for a prominent library science company. For fun, he plays in bluesy rock band around the Boston/NYC area. His writings can be found in Boston Literary Magazine, Mondoweiss, Mint Press News, (several publications in) Wilderness House Literary Review, 34th Parallel Magazine, Counterpunch, Foreign Policy Journal, Work Literary Magazine, Opiate Magazine, Truthout, Green Fuse Press, Antiwar.com, Rhinocerotic, Peace Studies Journal, Ethnic Studies Review, Libertarian Institute, Middle East Monitor, Dissident Voice, Inquiries Journal and a periodical publication of the Brookline, MA Historical Society.

Those who hold up the earth

There are people who hold up the earth.
With raised, soil-drenched arms held high
and herniated disks, they are weary, their
gaze diminished by the underground’s thick, dark haze

Are they rickshaw puller
or did they pave the road he rides upon?
Are they dishwasher, with the stink of
sodden food permeating wrinkled hands?

Sometimes, when the world grows more weighty,
when teeth rip open the stomach of dreams and
the outside is dispossessed of any allure,
the ground they hold forces them to
hunch over, their backs nearly breaking.
But, somehow, they still manage to hold up the earth