The Bees

This little pandemic life

doors shuttered and walls up

permission given to those instincts

to hermit, to hide

Yes you are out there

Standing proud on the street

Flags a​(-)waving, signs held

Defiant stingers ready to strike

and I quickly drive by

back to my shelter

back to my safe zones

home, work, home

home, work, home

I know I’m not alone

My anxiety palpable

a world filled with angry bees

I hold in my heart and eagerness

to understand, to reason with them

I know you’re out there

The bees that want to get to work

for solutions rather then just a swarm

Dialog bees, breaking from

combative collectives

Bipartisan bees, if you will

Drifting from wildflower to orchid

mixing pollen in the most elegant

of dances

but they are becoming so rare

endangered

Instead, there they are

grimaced mouths and antennae twitching

venomous soundbites ready to plunge

and I quickly drive by

home, work, home

Jeni Alden St. Laurent

Nashua

—

FAITH

In the darkest depths of desperate moments

there is a light inside

if you pay attention – you feel

this yearning all around you

this light is the desire for MORE

the desire to live

fully – the life you deserve

the life you have always deserved

This energy is inside of your soul

SCREAMING aloud that your voice matters

SCREAMING that you have a greater purpose

SCREAMING for more

You need to ESCAPE

it will not be easy

you will fall apart

the conscious decision to never give up hope

is the most difficult

no matter the cost

no matter the judgement

no matter the

consequences

you will starve alone

you will cry alone

you will stumble alone

your heavy heart will be lost in chaos,

misunderstanding, vulnerability, distraction

you will question everything you have ever known to be true about life

you will MOURN the death of your former self.

You will die a thousand deaths. Alone.

but if you follow that light

and you TRUST that voice within

and you cry

and you stumble

and you sacrifice all that you are inside

and risk everything that

may or may not be

If you jump into the flame fearlessly.

your DREAMS will shift in the most

miraculously graceful ways

you never knew existed

Remember this moment of desperate despair

remember the sinking weight of your beating heart

for this is the heaviest moment

that changes your story forever

and it is beautiful

it is transformation and you are saved

Jessica Sirk

—

EDITOR’S NOTE: To submit pieces for the Poetry Corner, email mburdette@nashuatelegraph.com.