By Madeline Meiers
Featured in Caesura 2020: Imago
Recycled Tears
Our hurt passes hands
Like slimy dollar bills
And blackened dimes,
Leaving burn marks on our palms
And ashes on our fingertips;
All of us lined with scars of our own doing
Criss-crossed with the mistakes of the ones we love
And the ones we hate.
Consequences like buck shots
Strike many of us down
Whether we meant to or not.
Some pretend they aren’t just crying recycled tears
But we know better for
We know the truth—
We all hurt and
We all hurt others.
Maybe if we hold hands
Then the pain could not pass through us,
And even if it could,
We would still have each other,
The bond of forgiveness sealing our hands together
So we can’t let go.
Can you imagine a world where no one lets go?
No more, “I’ll hold tight if you will,”
Because even if you break the pact
It’s okay because I won’t
And all it takes is one
To hold all of humanity in His Hands
And say, “I am never letting go.”
A Poem for the Shadows
To all the shadows on the wall
who believe they must give up
their skin and bones
in order to belong:
Belonging is not dissolving,
Belonging is being—
Being who I am
Being who you are—
Delighting in each other
Because having skin and bones
Means we are not shadows on a wall.
Bonus poem
A Flower
A flower is beautiful in and of herself
But really shows her brilliance when she blooms
No matter what she has been given.
For a flower cannot choose her petals,
Or her leaves, or her stem;
She merely grows
And buds
And dies
In her due time.
You don’t force a flower
To reveal her petals.
You wait for her
To feel the sunlight
And to hear the buzz of the bees
Before she slowly, slowly, slowly,
Stretches her petals to the morning
All on her own.
She doesn’t have a choice;
For her to be deeply, fully, truly appreciated,
She must open up,
Baring her precious soul
To the risk of harsh and biting storms
And the eyes of all the bees and birds and world
To see her, take her, know her.
But even if she knew what we thought of her,
why should it influence what she thinks of herself?
Whether we find her beautiful or not
She will open when the daylight calls,
Knowing openness comes with its perks
And not just its rain.
Madeline Meiers is a senior Honors Humanities and English major. After graduation, she hopes to move to Denver with her friend and save money to travel the world. She is looking forward to choosing her own books to read and continuing to write.