Poems
[by Linda M. Crate ]




 

maybe so should i

i'm in need

of some

creature comforts:

 

some soft, warm

bread and delicious soup;

some cheese and cake—

 

give me some soft, warm

blankets and some cozy books;

 

a nice cup of hot tea

some healing and relaxing

rest and slumber—

 

it is autumn,

so lovely and beautiful;

 

i want to see the leaves in

all their glory before they

dance in the wind—

 

and afterward perhaps

hibernate all winter

 

because if bears can sleep

and eat and find comfort

in those long, cold months then

maybe so should i.

​

 

too long yet too short

i want to

find

people who

feel like the

comfort of the warmth

of the sun because

 

i have met too many

cold and distant

as the moon,

 

while the moon is beautiful

these people are the worst

parts of her and never as

comforting;

 

so let me meet people

who feel like sunshine—

 

my bones need to find

warmth and safety and comfort

in another being,

 

life is too long

yet also too short

to spend every

day alone;

 

i need to break out of

this place i am in now

because this darkness is of

little comfort to me and i want

nothing less than peace.

​

​

i can water myself

there

is no comfort in

lingering in places

no longer

yours,

 

so i am afraid that

 

i may have to sever

myself from people

i once thought i couldn't

live without

 

because they no longer bring

any joy;

 

i am tired of being the only one

that waters friendships simply so

others can feel comfortable

in our friendship while i can feel

worried and insecure—

 

from now on

should someone want my friendship

then they need to put effort in

or i will go water myself

 

because i deserve places where

i can be comfortable.




Linda M. Crate (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer whose poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has twelve published chapbooks the latest being: Searching Stained Glass Windows For An Answer (Alien Buddha Publishing, December 2022). She is also the author of the novella Mates (Alien Buddha Publishing, March 2022). Her debut book of photography Songs of the Creek (Alien Buddha Publishing, April 2023) was recently published.

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