Thursday, May 14, 2026

Heather Romero-Kornblum

Shards


Crumpled petals like dragonfly wings crushed in greeting cards, remember?




Flower


I wrote poems 

in supermarket parking lots


stopping under palm trees

in sun that burned

but called my

petals to open

with its 

sheer

white

drenching


I quaked with desire

with tastes that haunted


without relief

in the wee hours


when the cats

followed me

to the bathroom


emerging 

from their 

daytime recluses


begging me to play

as they remembered me

from a previous life


My heart broke

as I tried to bust

through invisible 

membranes

that kept me apart

from the world I knew


Brave

Unshackled

Craving beauty

Through torn skin

Dripping blood


In stores

On sidewalks


as I told myself

and others


I used to be

A person 


On stage again


My voice in the air 

that wasn’t 

inside my head 


I transmitted my longing

my grief

my lost kingdom

 

to strangers

who transmitted their own


Every month

I paid

exorbitantly


keeping myself alive

for my child 


The debt a gift

owed 

in this lifetime


I force myself to blossom


Crank out moist colors

from parched ground


I needle my sap

onto the page


Seeds into the ether




Sisyphus’ Wife


I leave my heart 

at the bottom of a hill


Brush hands together


Walk away



No comments:

Post a Comment

Chad Parenteau

Hey Buds Check on last tulip. Is  top  clipped? Rabbit or  neighbor? Day’s phone calls back burn flowers. Doctor’s words await. News won’t s...