Anti-Heroin Chic
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Music
  • Art
  • Comedy
  • About Our Contributors
  • Masthead
  • Issues
  • About our contributors - 2019
  • About Our Contributors - 2020
  • About Our Contributors - 2021
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Music
  • Art
  • Comedy
  • About Our Contributors
  • Masthead
  • Issues
  • About our contributors - 2019
  • About Our Contributors - 2020
  • About Our Contributors - 2021
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

​

10/21/2019

Poetry by Heather Pease

Picture
               David Howard CC



​A Room Too Small 

I don’t remember the sun on my skin. 
There were no last wishes.
Nothing was supposed to be final       yet.

The urn selected/its home, 
a mantel. 
Someone said it would be heavy           after.

The door creaked. Its knob ached/ as it turned 
to a room not vast enough/ for all my sorrow. 
Time froze/escape closed behind me/ pulling all oxygen out with it.

The room - no bigger than a closet. 
There were no flowers to comfort/no chair to sit with my grief/ 
I didn’t notice tissues/sitting on a table. 

There was a window/the curtain on the other side. 
Nothing              under my control, 
the room was considerate/ in its consciousness.  

Someone out of reach drew drapes revealed my dad 
on a table/ scratchy/ starched sheet at his chest offered 
no comfort.

He looked cold; I had no blanket to give.  He should be sleeping 
in his favorite chair/ this room, this senseless --small room
full of silence. Not his snores/ I could hear my hands tremble.

I stared, anchored to regret /willing him 
to be miraculous/not 
become ash.




Rocks

I was only a pebble when my mom called me her rock;
as we buried ours.
Rocks crumble when the         earth quakes
Rubble left in the wake
The strength of my family 
turned gravel                 then sand 
sifted through hands                 reached out
once anchored in love.

Being a rock felt like being thrown through windows
everywhere I stepped--glass shards 
in a quarry of sorrow.

My father collected rocks, sorted, arranged them 
to lean on each other
building a future,            a community. 

You see, rocks must live together,
that’s why you see them in piles.
Laying in river beds shaping the world 
around them.
Creating mountains together.

Some rocks are worn on fingers
around necks to             glitter  and        dazzle
cherished for their beauty.
Others must be cracked open                to reveal a 
glorious inside.

Certain rocks are created with              intense force
pressure              folded                and crushed 
into a metamorphic form          of what they were before,
part of the original       but 
different.

I didn’t know what kind of rock to be                  for her.
Was I meant to build something new for us 
or roll away? Did she need me soft                      and smooth laying quietly; 
or hard and jagged like flint?
Inside I was shattered               into a million pieces.

I wasn’t ready to be a rock, 
I felt like a grain of sand
I was just           a person being strong 
because someone told me I was 
and I wanted to believe it too.


Picture
Heather Pease is a Poet focusing on work centering on feminism, sexuality, identity, culture, mental health, politics and domestic violence. Heather writes from her own experiences, aiming to give voice to vulnerability, making people think about subjects often stigmatized through society. She writes to empower others whose voices remain unheard. She lives in Orange County, CA.


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    December 2024
    November 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    March 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.