Linda M. Crate- Three Poems

a price you cannot afford 

 

all those moments

that were not yours to take

i pray that they break you

the way you

broke her,

and i wish i could shatter you

into your star dust

because you are an insult

to every star

hung in the night but that would make

me the monster you are;

and so i remain

wholly intact holding back the dragon within me

so i don't destroy her by bringing out

the worst in me for your

sake—

you may not remember me,

but i'll always 

recollect your face;

i'll always want vengeance for every splinter

you fractured her heart into

making promises she didn't mean,

but you made me stronger;

for that i thank you—

but i won't grovel at your feet

the price of this strength was almost more than i could 

endure and so i have sharpened my claws

just in case you come scrambling back

i am a price you can no longer 

afford.

 

buried you 

 

i don't need to steal others' light to shine

because there is a fire in me 

that never dies

i am a descendant of the stars,

and i shine bright;

i drink up the star light and dance in the moon light

you were always trying to steal my nebulae

so you were a memory

i've buried beneath all the pain you put me through

shining bright like a nova

i cut the glass like diamonds

refusing to ever let anyone else rain down on

my fire and sparks and light—

you woke the storm in me and now i will never

be tamed again

for i am not a bird you put in a cage but a wild thing

always flying toward the sun and stars and moon

because my dreams are vast

like the universe.

sometimes the pain still remains 

 

i'd like to say let bygones be bygones,

but i cannot forget what you've

done;

even if i've forgiven it

sometimes the pain still remains—

i don't understand why you wanted my heart

to suffer the same pain as yours

you should have known

how much

this hurts, you should have known

better;

if you truly loved me as you said

you wouldn't have tried to destroy me

the way you did—

i wanted an apology i was never given

was in agony and anger so long i couldn't remember

how to smile,

but since then peace has returned and i know

happiness and i can smile;

but i worry about you

trapped in the darkness of your own heart—

i wish you could have accepted my

lessons for i would have taught

you to shine again.