Crowned
Until now
I’d lost all hope
It took some time to realize
love is a cruel game
where knights and bishops
terrorize the pawns
You can’t be a rookie
on this checked board
or you become easy prey
War is inevitable
upon this battlefield
but a captured heart
does not mean defeat
I fought and I fought
picked up my sword
each time I fell
It took quite a few
scars and bruises
until l could be
crowned of victory
Love was cornered
by my hands
and I was the one
to declare:
"CHECKMATE!"
Dreams
The land was barren
the sky was black
and in this world
they had taken away
everything from her
ripped love
straight from her heart
sieved hope
from all her veins
stomped on her faith
until she was malnourished
but she still
had her dreams
and she dreamed
of seeing
the smallest ray of light
through a crack
in the clouds
and so she walked
until her feet
were calloused and torn
until her bones
lost the marrow
until her strength
would carry her no more
then when she saw it
she fell on her knees
and crawled
the rest of the way
finally able
to savor liberty
with burnt skin
and chapped lips
she smiled
Wings
I let him
touch my heart
poison it
with his whispers…
Daddy had already
let love leak
leaving it forever broken
and empty
He played preacher games
flashing those pearly whites
to the congregation
begging them to have faith
to love and give to his God
but behind closed doors
he became Mr. Hyde
I didn’t have to fear
any monsters in the closet
with one
stomping
roaring
cursing
bruising her face
black and blue
I became a hollow shell
sifting every ounce
of his deliverance
from within me
and I let
Lucifer take his place
…his sweet words
lit a fire in me
his promises
fueled my rage
Hate was so easy
I sprinkled it
like hot sauce
to sear their casings
to make them
despise me like
that second devil did
My shield made of
ghost pepper skin
and I fit right in
with the demon’s warriors
I drank temptation
from chalices of fire
and the drug
was supplied
with every last drip
It was a taste so divine
I burned every bridge
I walked upon
My forked tongue
preyed on virgin ears
I lived in a treacherous paradise
and no one could touch me
without being cauterized
But the archangel
looking over me
had other plans
He told me how to pare
the charring off my flesh
To fill the empty vessel
with a different
type of flame
and when I touched
that light
I grew wings
It was the first time
I tasted liberty
but I still will never be
quite free
Because the fiend knows
the struggles of grace
He knows in those times
of tests and trials
we can be seduced by his claims
Though my soul
has been cleansed
it will always be ready for war
as Satan’s minions
will do their best
to churn the darker parts of me
Storm Before the Calm
Did I lock the front door
Is the A/C set to the right temperature
My lips are so chapped but I don't feel
like getting up for my chapstick
Calm down mind - I need sleep
I wonder how many times
I will toss and turn until my brain shuts off
Oh that was a good thought for a poem
hope I remember it in the morning
Tomorrow's Blossom
To see color again
when barren trees have left my mouth dry
how I thirst for scenery to resuscitate life
I am so tired of my pockets smelling like mothballs
and my stomach digesting fumes
from the waste of an unbalanced civilization
I have become weary living in the frames
of black and white photographs
camouflaged among the gravel roads
where many have trampled and rendered me invisible
inject me once again with verdurous hues
to bring life to my veins for tomorrow’s blossom
-2015 Donna J. Sanders