Acceptable Reason?

The woman sits on the road,
blood pooling in the hollows
of emaciated shoulders.
Newly widowed, homeless, forgotten,
nowhere to go and
unsure what to do,
she sits.
A hand gently caressing
her baby’s scorched flesh.

Behind her,
the bombed building falls away
with each breath of wind –
A crashing reminder
that this was done
in the name of God.



---

Disappointed

That’s what father would say
when my behavior became
unacceptable to him…

but you’re not my father
and I’m not twelve years old

nor am I a lump of clay
for you to mold at will.
I am me.
Three simple words
you can’t accept.

You say everyone has a history
and baggage to carry around,
yet you deny me the right
to carry my luggage
as if I were an incompetent child
too weak for the load.

I am not incompetent.
I am me
I’ve seen what I’ve seen.
A lot of it wasn’t pretty.
I hold the pictures in my head –
they won’t fade
I don’t want them to.
They keep the dicks out of my ass,
the fists out of my cunt,
and the hands off my throat.
They let me look myself in eye
every morning without cringing.
They serve me well
and I will not give them up
for your pleasure.
I am me
with all the baggage
and garbage
and bullshit
that entails.

I am truly sorry
if that person
is a disappointment to you.
But I will not be sculpted into someone
who’s a disappointment to me.

I started studying writing and poetry at The Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts at the age of 12. Now, I am a happily married mother of two girls living in Northwest Ohio who works for a physician's network. My poetry has appeared in about 43 print/web zines, and I've performed at several places around Toledo over the last several years. I am a member of the rock/spoken word band Logic Alley (www.logicalley.com), and Director of Minstrel Soup Artist’s Coalition.