Login
|
Join PoetrySoup
Home
Submit Poems
Login
Sign Up
Member Home
My Poems
My Quotes
My Profile & Settings
My Inboxes
My Outboxes
Soup Mail
Contest Results/Status
Contests
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Videos
Resources
Syllable Counter
Articles
Forum
Blogs
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Anthology
Grammar Check
Greeting Card Maker
Classifieds
Quotes
Short Stories
Member Area
Member Home
My Profile and Settings
My Poems
My Quotes
My Short Stories
My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Random
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 216.73.216.65
Your Email Address:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email Address:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
The old woman sat, eyes like pools of dreams, and imagined. If generations of pain can be passed down through bone and blood, why can’t love live there as well? She touches her face tentatively, tracing the line of her jaw—strong, etched with the strength of those who came before. Her teeth bite into questions, the kind no one wants to ask. But she does. She always was a bit too much, too wild, too free— when she was new, when she was open to life. She carries constellations of freckles, cascading and mirroring her inner universes— of which she has many, and somehow, not enough. She sees beyond time and space, as if the world were just a nestled egg. She is the Mother Bird, wrapping seraphic feathers—unfolded wings— around legacies of love and light. And tonight, she performs the ritual passed down in whispers. She places a bowl of salt and rosemary at her feet, draws a circle of ash around her chair. Lights three candles: one for the wound, one for the wisdom, one for the ones not yet born. She hums the note her mother taught her, the one that vibrates in the spine before it is ever heard. She slips a smooth stone into her mouth, cool and ancient, then spits it into the flame and watches the smoke form shapes only she can read. She stirs her tea slowly—not to drink, but to summon. Old names rise in steam, and memory drips down the rim. She thinks: What if dying is a door? One way only. No exit. Passive. But if we dare to enter, perhaps we pass through sacred realms. Purgatory is here— on this plane, Earth— when we mourn and are forgotten, when we remember and return through the doorway into ancestral truth. We arrive in gentle knowing, like hands capturing snow it settles for a breath, then dissolves. What if our ancestors and descendants live there, in the borders? What if— she wonders, her finger tracing the rim of the cup like drawing down the moon— what if?
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required