Two Poems by Linda M. Crate
i'll fight with any light i have
beneath a tapestry of stars
sings a moon
crescent and silver
reminding me that i don't have
to be whole in order to shine,
and i will always take
whatever light i have to illuminate
the darkness so that the truth can shine through;
my heart and my voice are my weapons
of choice
against all the monsters and nightmares
wandering around in the dark
trying to take away peace of mind—
all these people
trying to control women
only want one thing to make them
villains and felons
so they cannot vote,
but abortion should be a personal choice
not a governmental law;
all they want is more cogs in their machine
want to send our sons and daughters to war
they don't care about the price it costs to our hearts
or our families
all they care about is their own wants and needs.
you're playing with fire
"you better not be a lesbian"
sexuality isn't a choice
i certainly wouldn't choose a reality
where you stopped loving me
or judged me
because once i loved a girl
i may not be a lesbian, but my arrows
are bent not straight;
i am done living in a closet though
because skeletons make poor conversationalists—
i have always loved rainbows
because they are full of light,
and if you looked into my heart you would
see that my heart is, too;
love is love and love is the greatest magic we have
the only spell we can cast into this world to chase away
nightmares and hate
so i will wield this light with a badge of honor
use my dreams as a shield against the black song
of hate
until only light remains in this realm and the darkness
is whispered back to void because i am sick
of the exhaustion and chaos that comes
in a world where everyone is supposed to be just another cog
rather than themselves
i am sorry but i will never be anything less than me—
you're playing with fire
when you tell me that i shouldn't be me
because i refuse to be anyone less than who i am.
Linda M. Crate's works have been published in numerous anthologies and magazines both online and in print. She is the author of six published books of poetry, a micro-chap, and the novel Phoenix Tears (Czykmate Books). Linda prefers even numbers to odd although she couldn't tell you why that is.