Two Poems|Linda Crate
thorns of rage
my legacy was never
to be grovel
at the feet of anyone
not sure why you
expected submission
from the queen of chaos,
but you did and i resisted;
even cheated death
when you sent your missives
of darkness after me
i just returned them to
sender—
did you really think you could
out strategize loki’s daughter?
you called me a bruiser once,
and i let you because it would
give me the advantage should you
underestimate me and you did;
should’ve accepted the petals
of my love because the thorns of
my rage will never stop seeking your blood.
i am complete on my own
“what is a king without her queen?”
historically, stronger.
without mud the lotus will not grow
so you won’t see me shedding myself
like snakeskin because something
didn’t turn out exactly as planned,
i will just find a different strategy and attack
from a different angle than expected;
i won’t give up on me or my dreams
because i knew i was born to change the
world—
it always terrified me a little bit,
this greatness,
but everyone reaffirmed that i was born
for it;
and so i will step into this crown
with dignity and with honor
because i refuse to shirk my responsibility
not only to the world but to myself—
i am a queen,
don’t need a king to complete me;
i am complete on my own:
like persephone i am both flowers and death
and like hecate i am a mystery—
my language and the mythology of my
bones
mystifies many.
Photo by Andrey Grinkevich on Unsplash
BIO:
Linda M. Crate’s works have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies both online and in print. She is the author of six poetry chapbooks, the latest of which is: More Than Bone Music (Clare Songbirds Publishing House, March 2019). She’s also the author of the novel Phoenix Tears (Czykmate Books, June 2018). Recently she has published two full-length poetry collections Vampire Daughter (Dark Gatekeeper Gaming, February 2020) and The Sweetest Blood (Cyberwit, February 2020).
