Today's poem is by Alison Stone

Because
       

Because my daughter wants a poem
without love, death, naked people,
or Persephone
and I can't imagine
what I don't know

Because the radio broadcasts
terror through our rooms

Because sometimes for no reason
I remember Sandra Bland, and cry

Because when regret nuzzles next to me
all night, the dog still
greets me in the morning with her eager nose

Because my daughter and I lift
drying worms from the sidewalk
and return them to soil

Because for all my errors and obstinance
still the mountain offers me the many angles of her face

Because a day can begin with laundry
and end with astonishment

Because if I lie still, the cat
may massage my belly
as though I were dough

Because no war's been averted
by the knowledge that our bones
are made from the same stars

Because my dying friend said she would
contact me, and I won't be fooled
by birds or odd weather

Because I wanted to be broken
and forgiven and healed into shine
but remain messy and yearning and unsure,
my mind a drunken monkey stung by scorpions
despite decades of timed breath
and best intentions

Because while I am willing to ignore
death, naked people, and a goddess, I believe
that love must be allowed in every crevice
it can find a way to enter

Because the dead do not come back

Because birds are only animals
in practical flight
and there are days I can't recall
my mother's face

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Copyright © 2023 Alison Stone All rights reserved
from To See What Rises
CW Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission