Poetry (nonmonetized)
Colossal Women
Daily Special 26: “I thought her/as chaste as unsunned snow”
You’re tired
Hands raw from corrosive soap, children pulling at your hem, baby up every four hours, an ache so deep in the bones that a solid night’s sleep won’t make a dent
You’re poor
Too many mouths, baby birds all, with nothing left after rent and hydro and heat to buy bread, another night at the drive-thru narrated by screams of deep-fried delight
You’re huddled masses
Bodies keeping each other warm, hands scratching backs, braiding hair, wiping runny noses, hurrying to the frozen midwinter bus stop, holding hands so none get lost
You’re yearning to breathe free
The air thick with smoke, granddaddy’s cigarillo, car exhaust, greyblack snow blocking driveways, cars on cinderblocks, two puffs twice a day of the asthma inhaler
You are not brazen giants
Your limbs do not conquer, but shake in the wind, bowing to outside forces, cowering before armies, bending at the knee, kneeling on the asphalt, hands up, don’t shoot
You, mother of exiles,
Tending to skinned knees, kissing boo-boos, wrap your shawl tighter around you, turn your face, take the hit, cover the bruises with foundation, show no cracks, let in no water
To you they shout “go home!”
Unwanted, your prayers the wrong kind of prayers, your skin the wrong kind of skin, your tiredness the wrong kind of tired, your poverty the wrong kind of poor, closed gates
You will be welcome
The sea-washed, sunset gates, lit with torches, pearly white, gleaming gold, will open for you with the lightest touch, admit your poor, tired body inside: they will not hold you back
Thank you Ravyne Hawke for the poetry prompt: “Use the following quote as a springboard for a poem: I thought her / As chaste as unsunned snow. — Cymbeline by William Shakespeare. / Poetry Form — Any / Line Length — Up to 15 lines / Restrictions — line length.”
My poem is… not what I expected to get from this prompt, nor probably what you expected. If the headings count, it’s actually 16 “lines.” Uh, maybe more, depending on how you count. But I enjoyed the prompt nonetheless. It is of course quoting/meant to evoke “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus.
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