Five Poems

By: Catherine Koebel

Weeds and seeds

I won't be like the wilted dandelions
And turn to fluffy white seeds
So you can pick me apart seed by seed
And watch them rush into the breeze
You never wanted the whole me
But to divide me into pieces
and leave me to put them together
Don't take grieve in my leaving
For i won't spare you any pity
Because Now that i've come to an awareness
That i'm not the weed
i am the roses you pick for weddings
And the lilies your daughter picks from your garden
So don't be melancholy now that i'm the red rose
youve been wanting all along

 

Miles away

Densely, the thick air moved through the forest.
Licking at my short cut hair
They never let us keep it long
For beauty was a distraction to
a soldier with a gun
Steadily, my boots swiped at the grass
Taking each careful step
Not to let the forest hear
For i was the snake of its den
You didn’t want to be caught here as
A soldier with a gun
Intensely, gun shots rained in the distance
For one of my own had been found
My feet now heavily beating the ground
Tree branches swatting at my face as i tried to find safety
Intruding on enemies ground meant death to
A soldier with a gun
Spotted, i stopped in my tracks
The mans gun pointed straight at my head
Images flashed of my newborn daughter in her new bed
He shouted at me to follow unarmed
But there was no point
I knew they'd torture me
And just run blades against my skin
Until i poured out answers
That my mouth swore would never leave
A traitor of your country
To a soldier with a responsibility
Suddenly, a single shot rang through the air
Straight into the skull of the man who wished to end me
He collapsed to the ground
Like a tree cut from the forest
A fellow soldier stood a distance away
Sheltered by a tree
I marched on with him
With my family at mind
And i would forever give my gratefulness
To this soldier and his gun

 

 

I desire to be as the stream flows

I always loved the way water dashed down a stream
And clashed against the rugged terrain
Water had this beauty
to be treacherous and look breathtaking doing it
I strive to be as the river is
Be in a forest so thick and lively but still hear me roaring in the distance
And you’d know i'm no force to be recon with
But still you’d want to follow the sound so you can gaze upon me
Wildly Striking the rocks and swirling down stream in scattered white suds
And you would try to snatch me but i would just slip between your fingertips
I wasn’t something you could possess or contain
I was the water you needed and the dangered you wanted
ravishing enough to give life but threat enough to take it all away

 

Full bloom

You fell in love with my petals
So when fall came and robbed me of them
You left
Because my self enrooted in the earth
Wasn't what you wanted to see
-im not the weed here

 

Milk and coffee

Silly
Didn't you know
That people are just people
Simplistic
And that he is no better than she
And deep coffee skin is no less
Exquisite than pale
Just because you've never taken the time
To learn to love the pungent earth brown taste
Doesn't mean it is any less of a beverage

-the art of human equality