Linda M. Crate- Three Poems

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 was published in March 2015. Her novel Dragons & Magic is forthcoming through Ravenswood Publishing. 

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shining sun

i am the falling rain
the setting sun
broken wings of the
swan
tulips fading into the slow
retire of summer,
and you were winter's rose
the thorn that brought
me shame and
scorn;
cut through the glass of my heart
with the diamonds of your
eyes—
now i've risen from my ashes
like the phoenix
i burn
the hungriest star
going to achieve my dreams and successes
pirouette them against the pyramids
of the past until they erode away
your orbiting in my life
will stop
because you are no longer my moon
i need nothing more from you
you always borrowed my light but i am going
to shine brighter than you can withstand.



wicked dragon

you want the queen,
but i don't need a king because
i am the king of my own
kingdom
shine brighter than the sun;
you were only the soft whisper of rain
beneath the leaves of my most
wretched sadness
you were never the salve i craved to
help heal my wounded soul—
you scoffed when i told you that i had a temper once
so remember me well when i tell you
there's a reason the female
is deadlier than the
male,
and i have a hunger that will not let go
so many dreams and goals to
accomplish;
i will not let a worthless hedonistic man like you
stand in my way
i will achieve everything
keep chasing maidens in your ivory tower
my imagination will give me all the wings i need to
procure the best of swords to slay you
one day, wicked dragon.



a strong woman

you slighted me in ways
i never knew existed
hurt me with wounds so deep i thought
i'd shatter like pottery,
but nature sewed me back together
with a smile
more perfect than before;
the girl you knew once was a weak rabbit hearted one
but i am stronger now
i have sharpened my talons
shining brighter than the sun i will burn you
in the wings of your own flames—
silver tongued serpent
your wings will be undercut from beneath your
own transgressions
because we both know you are far from being
as pure as driven snow,
but you have not this entire burden;
i should have known better & now that i do i will stand
stronger than you ever knew a woman could
prove to you that we are far
from the weaker of the
sexes.