Graphite sketch of flamingo flowers in dark green

sacred

Day Two, National Poetry Month

Sacred


Of all the shows I like to put on in the background while I work
M.A.S.H. is by FAR my most frequent pick
I think it's because I married Hawkeye Pierce,
if he'd been a Jewish-Japanese man with a gentle mother who married the war
instead of writing home about it.

I see the shape of his smile
surgical mask sarcasm to knife-edge the damages War delt
as he was drafted into this family and devoted himself
to saving me from my own family wars
Another draftee bombed on the front lines by the violence of another man's bomb

And by bomb I mean Cock
and by cock I mean Loaded Gun
and by Loaded Gun I mean the entitlement of men who rush to pluck
The flowers their wives tended before they can fully open into sunlight
I am not a garden bed where your rifles plow the fields.

But I am thankful for that surgical mask sarcasm
and his refusal to let me slip into winter,
warming me with late night kisses and the
constant reminder that my life

Not just all life, but also MY life,
To him,
Is sacred.

Handwritten, cursive signature says "pea flower tea" in lowercase letters. The flower is a small sketch of a bloom, instead of the word for "flower".

Beginnings

National Poetry Month is a poetry writing challenge, where participants write a poem every day through the month of April.

About the author

Pea is an artist focused on building an art therapy platform through transformative art and positive erotica to help victims of sexual violence reclaim their power. She lives on a small island and hides from loud noises.