she believes in me
mother is the name
of God, the title of
wisdom;
she is a guiding ship
and the port that leads home—
she is the lighthouse,
the womb, the friend, the
parent, and the authority;
she is a song of magic
too oft forgotten—
but she is patient,
she is kind, she is full
of effortless beauty
and charm;
she takes my hands any
time i have fallen
and whispers to get up again—
she believes in me
and all of my strange dreams.
-linda m. crate
whisper of your past
playing a game of solitaire
with a deck of twenty eight cards
is as wrong as me being here
without you,
i think of all the adventures we
should be having,
all the things we should be
or could be doing together;
always wanted you to be my sun
because i always knew i
could be your moon—
but i guess
life had different plans
for us
than everything i wanted,
i thought i could be
your wife;
a beloved melody of a song
you could never
resist—
turns out i am just a whisper
of your past that you keep
around to remember good times.
-linda m. crate
give me the large dose
small doses of kindness
are beautiful,
yet sometimes are not
enough;
surviving off of crumbs
a soul can still starve—
i prefer large doses
of kindness that last and
linger on more than
a single day,
i want do be drowned in
flowers, trinkets, affection,
compliments, and love;
i want to know i matter
to someone else
other than me—
i want to linger on the mind
as a dream or a haunting
crow, whose inky black feathers
and eerie song bring no peace
in accordance to how
a soul treated me.
-linda m. crate
they're wrong
i am overdue on some
forgotten hugs,
i have back rent in hugs that
are overdue;
i don't mind who gives me
a hug whether it's a tree, a
crow, a unicorn, a dragon,
or my fictional father lestat;
but i am overdue on hugs,
affection, and care—
i guess that happens when
you're a misfit crow,
everyone assumes you're
strong and silent;
that you don't crave connection
or love or depths—
but they're wrong, i always have.
-linda m. crate
my heart still beats with music
flying with a broken wing
has never stopped me,
the wing will heal;
and my heart still beats
with music—
so let's give the psalm some
rhythm and a lot of
soul,
let the chorus be a melody
the world has never heard before;
i am a weird girl dancing
to the beat of my own
drum—
i am not a song you've ever
heard before or will ever hear
again so make sure you listen when I'm singing to you,
because if you make me feel
small and insignificant;
then I'll keep my crow song to
myself and join the rest of
the misfit crows with my inky
black wings.
-linda m. crate
i define myself
watching from a distance,
you can lose your whole life
waiting to become;
and so i decided to believe
in myself and my dreams—
for it didn't matter if others
could see what i saw,
only that i could get there;
because there's nothing
this simulation can do to hold
me back from becoming
who i truly am—
i am magic, i am a melody,
a poem, a song, i am the crow,
the fox, the creek, the tree;
i am immortal and i will never
be forgotten no matter how
many discard me—
i define myself although many
others have tried, they don't
know my heart or the mythology
of these bones.
-linda m. crate
where my magic is understood
dragons in flight, freed from
the tethers of anyone's need
are so beautiful to watch;
but there's a part of me that
also wants to escape
on the back of one into another
realm where i am warmly
accepted and loved
where my magic is understood—
some forgotten princess
which is suddenly remembered,
pulled away from a reality where
she doesn't feel known
or appreciated;
ever since i was a little girl i thought
perhaps if i were good enough
my father would come find me
and take me home—
sometimes he was a prince
or a king,
but usually he was a vampire.
-linda m. crate
no night sky without darkness
memories are occasionally
a tragedy,
i think my mom thinks i want
to be sad sometimes;
but i don’t really choose to be—
sometimes my brain takes a
trip to memory lane,
and all i can think of are the things
which hurt me;
there’s love and light in my life
but those echoes seem too soft
in comparison with all the hurt i
have either have had to face
or overcome—
memories last forever,
the impact of words and deeds
matters;
and i will not apologize for the way
i process things—
there would be no night sky
without a bit of darkness,
but i won’t let the darkness swallow
all of my light.
-linda m. crate
to where i began
no foundation
to stand on,
always feel like the
sand beneath my
feet is going to give out;
will i be falling through
stars until i land in
the right universe?
i can't shake the feeling
that this is the wrong one,
no one seems to
understand me here;
and no one has ever loved
me the way i needed
to be loved—
no one seems capable
of appreciating me and all of
my magic,
perhaps i just need to
let the sand be washed away;
maybe the ocean can
take me back to where i began
and i can find my home and
these restless bones of mine
can find rest.
-linda m. crate
they won’t steal my magic
piracy of hope
is like when nightmares
steal the light of
dreams,
but i won’t let anyone
dim my magic
or my light;
they may come for it—
but i am well versed
in cutting thorns
and making my tongue a
sword,
all they will find here
is their ruin;
won’t sacrifice
myself or my magic
for anyone—
i will always be the one
who protects
hopes and dreams fiercely
with everything i have.
-linda m. crate
