Linda M. Crate- Three Poems

rising from my ashes 

 

i am here to prove you are not immortal

that you will fall from the sky

like icarus with his wax wings,

and the ocean will devour you until there's

nothing left for even the carrion to

find; 

you asked me not to be a dream when you

woke so i will be your nightmare

instead—

you left me behind after promising to rescue

me from all the snow and misery,

and you deceived me

in every way you could and then tried to come

out of it all smelling like a rose;

but i have never smelled garbage so rancid

as the words that left your mouth—

i am not an idiot,

and you must have truly believed me to be

to think that i would fall for your

false sincerity and believe utterances that i knew

were lies;

you left me in the ocean hoping it would erode me

along with all your other blue lipped angels—

but from my ashes i rose

like a phoenix

never again will anyone rain down on my last spark,

and put them all out because i was meant to

shine;

one day you will see just how bright as i burn

away everything you knew of me.

choke on your lies 

 

you mistook yourself for a vampire,

but i am the one with the 

fangs;

i will drag them across your face

should we meet again

erode you with oceans of memories

a thousand years old—

you sought to tame me but my heart is

wild and i will not be tamed,

and i thought you understood that from the

start;

i was not meant to be conquered

only loved and respected for whom and what

i am and was but you could not

do that—

you always insisted that i had to change,

instead of accepting that there were some things

about me that would always remain the

same;

perhaps i lost too much of myself

trying to impress you

but the tempest in me has returned and my soul has

reconstructed itself from the ashes you left

in me—

now i am stronger than you have ever known

burning with all the fires of celestial heavens

i am my own galaxy,

and the world is made of many;

you are but a speck in the eye of the universe and you

meant so much to me but you made me less than

the speck in the eye of the universe

so i hope one day you choke on the vibrant

fabric of your lies.

the gift of light

 

you left me in the darkness

i wept and wept,

praying and hoping and dreaming that

one day you would return to me

apologize for what you had

done;

but you were unapologetic for everything the

insincerity and the lies you gave me

cheating on me and of taking my virginity and 

for stealing all the light in my eyes—

i cried some more

until i felt a thousand centuries had past,

and one morning i woke up

the pain was gone but in it's stead there was a 

double-edged sword of anger and wrath

laying among the peace;

i know now you are not worth my fury or

even this poem,

but you never let me get the last word in 

or to speak to you of everything i thought we should

and could

so now you get to sit down and shut up—

i warned you of my vibrant fury

shining brighter than the sun

and you were only ever the moon trying to steal

my light and i let you

foolishly,

but i've learned from my mistakes and i won't

let anyone take my light from me

i will only burn them 

should they endeavor to take it because it is a

gift not everyone deserves.

 

 

 

Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville.  Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. Recently her two chapbooks A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press - June 2013) and Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon - January 2014) were published. Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic is forthcoming from Ravenswood Publishing.