by Ashley Bacon
She carries a hurricane,
a broken chorus of wind and rain,
a painfully quick kiss.
She carries nothing and everything
crashing beautifully together onto the canvas of earth.
She carries flowers plucked from her bones,
and yet she still expects them to grow into some sort of magic.
She carries a starvation of time generated by feelings of madness,
camping out in the parts of her unconscious mind hoping there’s enough oxygen left to survive.
What’s that behind the surface?
She carries the power of a pen in order to defend herself with much more than words;
writing letters, but never opening any and that’s okay.
There’s a part of her heart that bleeds with the blood of the angels.
She carries combat boots and leggings
because she can be comfortable and still be strong all at the same time.
She carries rebirth because there must be more to life than death.
She carries love in silence because in silence there is no rejection.
She carries lampshades made of solid gold with black lights underneath;
everything that glitters won’t do any good in darkness.
She carries compassion for not only everyone but for herself.
The human skin can be so hard to live in.
Small minds can’t comprehend big sprints.
To be great she must be willing to be mocked, hated, and misunderstood.
She carries an Alice in her own little wonderland.
Even the Mad Hatter said, “we all go a little crazy sometimes..”
She carries sunset colors and sharp mountain tops;
feeding the empty parts with the earth and the sun.
Beautiful things will never go unnoticed.
She carries the sight of the grandmothers that lost theirs;
maybe she was never meant to be the flower, but instead the fertilizer beneath it.
She carries lyrics and stars and laughter;
accustomed to midnight and year old photographs.
She carries lightness and darkness and everything in between.
She carries wonders into the distance,
that’s can’t be touched but always seen.
She carries paintings that paint themselves.
She carries the words “You’ve changed.”
She carries the definition of undefined.
She carries the heart of a poet,
and although she can maintain a conversation way past two a.m.,
she carries the heart of a dreamer.
She carries a growing young girl who just wants to change the world.
Blue Granite Review 