Linda M. Crate- Three Poems

won't go down 

 

you send my rage flying 

higher than eagles

soaring above the clouds to

avoid the storm,

the decibel of your voice

sends my ears into 

a state of

rebellion;

and causes me to sway on the

side of annoyance

because everything must be done

for you and you alone

you do not care

of whom you crush on your path to

greatness—

you treat us all like puppets

pulling our strings taut,

so i've cut the strings because i am no

one's marionette;

it's clear you don't like me but i 

assure you the feeling's mutual—

you are a wicked witch,

and i wish that i could pull your broom

from beneath you and shove it up

your bum

for you a crueler than a winter's wind

more harsh than flying icicles 

caught in his breath;

so suffer us not your presence

if you must be miserable

then drag only yourself down we will not

go down with your ship.

greedy harpy 

 

i won't let your unkindness

change me into exactly

the person i don't want to be

won't fly off the handle

with rage like you over insipid things,

and screech insults at people

in a harpy's voice;

there is no desire in me to be

heartless and selfish

as you are—

i will swallow all the rage you make

me feel and channel it into

something positive

for the world already has enough

violence and indifference,

and i don't want to be another darkness

in it when i was meant to be a light

to burn through the void and

shadows of life;

i will always be me but i never will

be you because i am good at being me

and i would regret ever treating any

the same as you treat me—

once i felt bad for you and your situations,

but now i feel like it'd be a blessing

if you took yourself on your

flames

too greedy and overreaching. 

a vital lesson 

 

glowing with rage

i don't doubt sometimes you

would make a good evil

dragon,

and would even give maleficent a

run for her magic;

but you don't impress me much with your

vile tactics and cruel words

i've known another just like you

and he found just how

defiant i can be—

i will dig my heels in and do what i know

must be done, 

and i try too hard to be shrieked at

over asinine things and to

be treated like 

a piece of shrapnel pressed far into the

wound;

so please feel free to stop throwing

all your pins and needles at 

me—

i do my best and try to be kind and do the

right thing even in this harsh

circumstance

because i know i would never forgive

myself if i were anything like you,

and i happen to know

right from wrong

a vital lesson you seemed to have skipped all

those years ago.