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Gail Beckstein Poem
Before the first moonlight spilled down upon us like winged doves from the sky
we were fettered together like lovers were,
In passion not yet transmuted into devotion to one another.
Above us rose a virgin sky void of stars
of constellations that would map out our cosmic future.
You, son of Adonis in my wide eyes, me, an idol of Inanna,
Convincing the future to never let this die,
Not knowing as of yet that Amphitrite and Poseidon’s coercive alliance
would coax us down the coast where we would seek refuge
in the surf and away from the trappings of winter’s swirling snows
and snarling winds.
Many years into a union of rings of gold and diamonds,
tumultuous at times but mostly heaven falling with her
heaviness upon us.
We fight side by side for a peace that seems so easily bestowed
upon others
And yet, like the ashes of Kilauea we rise without choking
At night we listen for the songs of our children
Born and unborn
reminding us we are wrapped in the protection of cashmere Carolina twilight.
Copyright © Gail Beckstein | Year Posted 2025
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Gail Beckstein Poem
Mother’s Daughter
As they delivered you into the world upside-down, they wiped you clean
With steady hands that did not shake with the thunder of the firmament
Laying you upon my chest, each gazing into the other’s grey-blue irises full of
Wonderment, I believe we knew each other since the universe came to be with a bang
Of equal intensity
Your cries, ever moving me clumsily from my place in our house, singing of hunger and distress
Send me on a mission to quell your discomfort
On a sleepless night, in the cold of autumn, I take you out wrapped in arms of woolen blankets
Knitted by an old woman’s gnarled hands whose name I have forgotten
I present you to the dulled light of the ancient stars of the universe understanding you will never belong to just me
You take your place amongst time and space and the pulse of the elements with
A howl not unlike that of the wild wolves of the mountains
And observe as you set yourself free to join your brethren of the shared galaxy.
Copyright © Gail Beckstein | Year Posted 2025
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Gail Beckstein Poem
In a winter’s bed I sleep, a dreamless starless sky above
And though the daylight does not keep
The snow flies like an aimless dove.
The blood orange sun spreads ‘cross the sky like a painting on a wall
The artist keeps a watchful eye and wraps the hues in endless squalls.
The cardinal with its wings of red
Chirps its promises of signs
Of those of us who’ve gone ahead to speak of heaven’s unbounded shine.
My frozen bones begin to warm around the fire’s roaring blaze
Like brittle ice in a winter’s storm,
And blanket the horizon’s haze.
These sacred days of early moons and late sunrises wrapped in time,
For it won’t be long till springtime swoons
The tulips from the winter’s grime.
Copyright © Gail Beckstein | Year Posted 2025
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Gail Beckstein Poem
Circling me like a shark in open water,
I wave my arms so someone sees
And for so long you never bothered
To see the huntress I can be.
You said you’d always try to see eye to eye,
But your irises have turned to black
And in my own I stalked out every single lie
And your facade begins to fade and crack.
The runway lights are lit before you now
To alight your lying eyes with blame
And land your crashing paper airplane safely on the ground
But you choose to go down with the flames.
My body has become a vessel
To carry me back to the shore.
And when my feet touch the sand I begin to wrestle
With how to give you less when you want so much more.
Your body always craved something I couldn’t afford,
Some kind of gold I saved for me
And though I feel I’ve fallen on my own sword
I take that gold and begin to flee.
Far away I run with broken bones across the landscape
The desert sand catches up with me
Looking before me now I pull back the blackened drapes
And you are nowhere to be seen.
Are you hiding in my notebooks
To see again when I am drunk with rain
To kill the blinding blaze and drown out everything you took
And mend the burning merciless pain.
So go ahead and let your dirty wings give you lift
And after that grab onto drag
Because you will continue to crash your paper planes
Until you burn yourself out with your own jetlag.
Copyright © Gail Beckstein | Year Posted 2025
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Gail Beckstein Poem
Words like those cut from the throat of the robin
Breast red with pride, the words cast out by the one I love.
There is no bravery in them; I have no shield to protect myself from them as they are thrown at me.
Those are the words that instantly turn lover to stranger
Whose thin lips silently mouth a coward’s chicken- goodbye
Words have broken me
Words will heal me
All in good time.
Copyright © Gail Beckstein | Year Posted 2025
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Gail Beckstein Poem
The season’s subtle winds bring change, from the skies
to the mountains, bearing an autumnal overcoat
boasting gold, orange, and scarlet, gradually
hushing to a dying chestnut brown.
Soon, the warming of spring will throw back its head,
laughing at crocuses and daffodils daring to
bloom above winter’s malingering snow.
The pulse of dawn captures me in its taciturn wake.
Above, the trees shed the last of their death and
blend in with the persistence of the evergreen.
I slowly bend and bleed with the horizon’s edge and
hold summer by the hand, laughing and
giving autumn a nod, knowing he’d be back
one day.
Copyright © Gail Beckstein | Year Posted 2025
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