image by Christina Deravedisian (unsplash)
King Roosevelt the Healer
I sat quietly as she skipped by, I dared to shuffle, stoic poise. Her other toys gazed- frozen. I was chosen to comfort from far away. He missed her birthday. He lost. I was tossed into a box- longingly shipped. A stuffed ragged bear, his carrier pigeon- of love- of ache. He would be dead before her birthday cake sprouted mold. My fur matted in tears, after years of silent pleading, for his resurrection. But for a moment, prior to grief’s inflection, she forever bends, infinitely bending now, peering excitingly into the coat closet. Bridegroom Estuary In the opaque expanse he is there, the one I promised God, the one I donned lace for. The aging embrace of reason, a graveled voice of calm, in a soul of fear and trepidation. He is the anchor in this albatross. He steels and finds bottom. A strength no other could wake. Steadfast, an ocean surface of glass. I see my reflection- a reflection of that which he finds in me. Do I dare conjure it for myself? First Sergeant You drove that navy blue Corvair, up and down the gravel laden hollers of our charred town, praying it would outrun your reminiscence. You were mistaken, parking it on the hill by the slanted tool shed, you proudly built with bayonet seasoned hands- hands unwilling to purge the stain. You refused to suffer one more night of cower, beneath your best friend's jeep, or one more sunrise with lack of sleep, as a backfire bludgeoned you into hostility, an ocean away from these forgotten tracks. You staggered up to the little barn door. No more scarring your wife and children. No more- flashing back again to that crimson day, as vernal faces lay in foreign silt, set eyes peering up from the morning dew. You hesitate, grasping the familiar steel, leaving your redemption blustered all over the resting John Deere Bio: Jessica Weyer Bentley is an Author/Poet. Her first collection of poetry, Crimson Sunshine, was published in May 2020 by AlyBlue Media. She has contributed work to several publications for the Award-Winning Book Series, Grief Diaries, including Poetry and Prose, and Hit by a Drunk Driver. Jessica’s work has been anthologized in Women Speak Vol. 6 (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions), Summer Gallery of Shoes (Highland Park Poetry), Common Threads 2020 Edition (Ohio Poetry Association), Appalachian Witness Volume 24 (Pine Mountain Sand and Gravel) and Made and Dream (Of Rust and Glass) 2021 and online showcases including Global Poemic and Fevers of the Mind Poetry Showcase 2022. Jessica currently resides in Northwest Ohio.
Fevers of the Mind 