She Who
St. Peters, MO
2022, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
She who,
Gazes up at the stars
Peeks through the clouds
Smiles through sunshine and sobs through the storms.
She who,
Embraces with spring breezes
Kisses with snow, freezing
Spins around gifting flowers and throwing leaves, but never leaving.
She who,
Struggles
Innocence gathered as,
Enjoying the calm instead of realizing
The avalanche of storms approaching
She who,
Slightly ignored
Implores,
No more bruising, no tearing, she begs for
Safety for
A reprieve, A breath of fresh air.
They who,
Paint her up,
Pull her down,
Twisting, turning, squeezing her
Oxygen out of her lungs and
They who,
Replace her veins with sludge
She holds no grudge,
But still she cries.
She who,
Once rested in a garden,
Pinned up, a display
Tethered in tightropes
A show in a circus,
She who,
Paints her smile on, stressed
A silhouette that once was,
Dancing in trees, flowing in streams, now
Burning down forests, flooding the purest
Of her family, running, flying, kicking, but unable for fighting the
Drowning from her blood coursing across lands.
They who,
Clowns, jesters, and fools,
Hiding themselves behind walls,
Still claiming her all,
Filling, overspilling with exhaustion
A richness they grab, greedy with spoiled fingers that waste no restraint
No conservation, no break.
Shove problems down her throat, messes in her hands.
They who,
Chime with sweet bells,
Sweet words,
Small laughs, shaking heads.
There is no problem in this world.
She who,
Wails with coarse sirens,
Tripping distress,
Reduced to her knees, shoulders shaking.
Mother Earth, imprisoned.
Reflection
Reflection
When I saw this year's prompt, the first thing I thought of was an article I had read about the oil company Exxon. They had had scientists researching global climate change in the late 1970s, and when they saw the results of these tests, they decided to continue on with the gas and oil production regardless of the harm. It made me think of deception, which can sometimes be paired with magicians, or even the circus. While writing this, I also thought of how the Earth could be personified, which led to me imagining Mother Earth as one of the spectacles in the circus that has been made as a result of companies that use her to their advantage.