Poet’s Corner

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For the children
By Amarylis Douglas

“When will our blood be red enough?”
When will our tears, that reflect in the journalists’ eyes,
be holy enough?
Our mothers and grandmothers strong enough?

When will it happen?
Will our children’s bedrooms and soft warm bedcovers
be forgotten?
Our children’s homes
and schools
and friends, just a vague memory,
a memory of safety and easy, everyday
simplicity?

When will our fathers and big brothers and uncles
be able to stop their valiant fight,
pick up their tired spirit and come back to us,
or bring us back to them,
with a pocket full of sunflower seeds
to plant a new garden?

Vineyard Haven resident Amarylis Douglas is a member of the M.V. Poets Collective, and a frequent reader at Pathways. Her book “The Fellowship of the Rain” was published in 2020 by Blue Light Press.

Poets with a connection to Martha’s Vineyard are encouraged to submit poems to Poet’s Corner curator Laura Roosevelt at ldroosevelt@gmail.com