Dating : Heart and Soul

A poem by Julia R. DeStefano

A queen will always turn pain into power. ~Anonymous

Heart and Soul

Again, and again, and again, I feel it.

The sorrow comes threatening to cast a shroud over the love

that I would wear at the nape of my neck if I could –

a talisman for good that you have gifted me.

I sit on the rocking chair. I swing, legs bare on the swing set.

My mind is a diary, recording everything it sees

in its business of words,

yet blackness seeps in like spilled ink on a page

because every face wears a frown.

My soul is weathered a bit more with each sight.

Dear Love, sit down beside me and understand this wild parade.

A woman is the women who have come before.

But I am, I am, I am Me.

I am more than the tears I have wept,

more than the heart that keeps being torn out of me

and the vignettes that flood my head.

No, I am an ambitious bird beating her wings –

red like a passionate rose –

so full of love

and singing for the thing her body needs.

Then, I sleep.

© Julia R. DeStefano