NATIONAL POETRY MONTH: 2017
LINDA M. CRATE

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nature motives
© Linda M. Crate

in the lisp of nature i
found music, honesty, and
the roots of every virtue
deeper than those of the most deeply
rooted, eldest tree;
 
in the lips of men i find
lies and desire and a longing and a yearning
that never dies--
 
so i prefer to sit in the mouth
of the creek
listening to her song as slants of sunlight
fall through the trees upon me with
their soulful harmonies
 
with no human hand
to interrupt their
song,
and time knows no beginning nor end;
crows psalming laughter in the air--
 
then i spy the gaze of an old man,
and i dart out of the trees
my heart beating like a drum because
i do not trust the motives of man
only nature.

never again
© Linda M. Crate

the memories
echo back again every winter
when the snow falls
in thick white
blankets,
and i want to leave your name
buried beneath the song
of death he always brings to trees and flowers;
 
but it is then that you open your eyes
press your lips against mine
even if you can never be here again
you remind me that i will
forever be yours
a mocking smile, a devil's grin; a turning
wolf that never stops revolving
into the darkness that nearly choked the life
from me leaving me in winter's death--
 
but the song of the moon woke me
saved me from your hurricane,
and the sun sewed back my heart with
her help and the hands of creeks,
trees, flowers, sunlight, crow song, birds,
birdsong, and every thing that finds and found
me happiness in this life and the next
tying me up to be a more sturdy warrior this time;
 
i know you will not be there if i call
out your name,
and so i stand alone here
in these memories;
tight lipped as clams refusing to give up their pearls
i was vulnerable to your charm once,
but never again.

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Linda M. Crate was born in Pittsburgh and raised in the rural town of Conneautville, PA. Her poetry, short stories, articles and reviews have been published in numerous magazines both online and in print. She has three published chapbooks:  A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press, 2013), Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon, 2014), and If Tomorrow Never Comes (Scars Publications, 2016).  She is also the author of three fantasy novels published by Chimera/Ravenswood Publishing: Blood & Magic, Dragons & Magic and her latest novel, Centaurs & Magic, which was published November 2016. 

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