kdmalloryA Love Song
Caught up in the eye of
your storm
you said you’d catch me if I fall.
Romantics like me
you see, we fall way too easily.
It’s true.
Elizabeth + Mr. Darcy
still gets me
gets me thinking about the times when
our laughter hit the same note
because our love just hit different.
But that was back when our love
harnessed the power of magic.
I used to watch you untie thunder from lightening
I used to watch you manipulate the skies
spin clouds into butterflies
Yeah. You were that kind of guy.
I guess it was my fault for believing all your lies.
I should have known that only fools believe in magic
and storms are never predictable.
(8/2024)
Not Me
Silent seedlings sleeping
deep beneath stony ground
dressed in splendid dressing gowns
they wait patiently for spring to come.
In their dreams they climb
up,
up,
up.
I, knowing full well it takes a village,
shout in sorrow:
“Did anyone make time to water the seedlings?”
Not me!
Said the Lady of Perpetual Pride
skin worn thin
wrinkles deep as roots
trophies she’d won
but never admired.
Just one more nip and tuck
and she’ll be made whole.
“Did anyone make time to water the seedlings?”
Not me!
Said the Mercenary Man of Self-Interest
he must make room for
one more house
one more shopping center
one more highway.
Cry for him! he is soulless
deaf to the sound of steel blades
gnawing, feeding, crunching
on the ancestral bones
of those who came First
They see! They hear! They speak!
I, knowing full well it takes a village ask:
“Will I make time to water the seedlings?”
Next spring, I say!
The moment of wonder
already eclipsed
by pressing needs of the day.
(2017/rev. 2024)
***This poem was inspired by the Indigenous Americans’ continual fight to regain the tribal lands that were stolen from them.