Cat Lady Poet
What if what’s unspoken
Is more powerful, bolder
Than even the minutest of sounds
Ringing through the forest of her mind
Rustling the leaves of her memories
Like fire, crackling on the edge of despair
Only to come back stronger
©Ashley Castle Barnes
Is power the maker of her world
Or is there something else, imperceptible
Yet sensed in the deepest parts
of her intrinsic memories
As if it were always there,
Seeking and returning,
As she vacillates between powerless
and power through
Perhaps there’s middle ground, lost
Seeking to be discovered
©Ashley Castle Barnes
What if it’s all a joke
Designed to make her forget
Her power
And her strength?
What if she knows what’s inside her,
What’s part of her,
Can’t be taken or diminished?
What if she has the last laugh?
©Ashley Castle Barnes
What if she can’t hold it together,
What if it all spills out onto the floor,
Writhing and seeking the light
Only to die in the stale air
So she can finally breathe
©Ashley Castle Barnes
And in her time
Will she hear the bells ring
for freedom,
Will she hear the cries for love
be quenched
With the cool, cool waters of acceptance,
Will she hear her own voice
and trust its power,
Will she hear its truth?
©Ashley Castle Barnes
Rest, she hears
But —
Allow rest
No ifs, ands, or buts
Float in liminality
Allow rest to wash over and cleanse away
Every pull to Do instead of Be
Allow rest
©Ashley Castle Barnes