Oh—
If someone would just come for me
Someone kind
And ever caring
You know
I never give up
Staring out
Into the ashes
Looking for signs of hope
Rising
Past my disappointments
And compromises
This is the ritual I’ve devised
To keep me believing I’m wiser
Than those fools
Whose tears fall
Like a million jewels—
The million diamonds they have mined
From the deep veins of loss
Where they will always find
Themselves
Waiting there
With all the memories they have tossed
Into the flames
And nobody blames them
Most of all me
Least of all me
Last of all me
But—
If someone would please
Just come for me
Someone so real
And so forgiving
That I could just live without
The need to hope for it
That is the power I invoke
But the hands of the clock
Continue stroking the hours
That have passed
With the words
That I spoke
And the one heart
I broke
Before I knew it was my own
© 2021 Julie Flanders
Photo Credit: Ali Karimi
April is Poetry Month Day 30
October Process 