Four Poems

Rebecca Loeser

1.Roses

White roses for you
My loveliest dream
Sad it is
You & me

Silent ghost of time
Gentle monster under cold skin
One who will pretend
Us together
Days or dark
We want to
Imagine
Remember
Believe

Pretty girl
Silly boy
Wonder where
They sailed the ocean light
Always whisper this
behind tiny hands at full
Cry on for my love
Through the storm

Black roses for you
My loveliest dream
Sad it is
You & me

2. Silver Lining
like they say a silver lining I’ll ever be
your heart that was cut out for
says night and day it’s not
the mischance on cloud nine
you know I’m not in the cloud
don’t put all down it’s only skin deep
if it ain’t is it just me to think
you in the day in time
on your sleeve
the bottom line
is the small stuff


3. Our Own Worst Enemy
The perpetrator,
The bystander,
The ally,
The target.

Hate, fear of difference;
Prejudices, stereotypes;
All catalysts of
Discrimination

The perpetrator bites,
The bystander watches,
The ally defends,
And the target cowers.

Growl, scratch:
You're black, Italian, Jewish.
You can't sit with me!
I don't like you.

Silence. Watching.
No help
Just hinder.
Shrugs.

A frown, a scowl,
You can't do that!
She can sit where ever she wants.
Argue, argue.

Shake, hide.
Don't hurt me please,
Don't hate me please,
I'll move, I swear.

And so the fight continues,
The hate won't stop.
The fear of diversity
Never ends, never dies.

Growl, bite
Silence, silence
A frown, a scowl
Shake, hide

And when they fight
When they clash
When they bite
When they watch

It is worse than bombs
Worse than guns
Worse than knives
Worse than swords

But when action
Is taken
When the bystander
Becomes the ally

The perpetrator
Will stop
The discrimination
Will end

But until then
We suffer:
For man is its own
Worst enemy

And the destruction
Of man
Will be the destruction
Of life itself

Because we are
Our own
Worst
Enemy


 

4. That Little Birdy

That little birdy
Out my window
Staring at me
Today, tomorrow

I'm afraid
Of that teeny bird
As the light fades
For from what I've heard

With an itsy bitsy tweet
and a little hop
Down the street
With a very large mop

Will fly the bird
To ambush me
While my visions blurred
By the darkness key

Over the head
I will be hit
While I'm in bed
Then buried in a pit

So the evil little birdy
Out my window
Staring at me
Today, tomorrow

Can crawl right in
The ditch where I lay
Because of course the bird would win
And then on that sad day

The bird will steal my shoe!
I know that just for sure
I havn't the slightest clue
Of where to find a cure

Of a phobia of that birdy
Out my window
Staring at me
Today, tomorrow