Poetry by Karissa Richardson

      Justin Meissen CC




Firefly 

A woman sits beside a barren crib and gazes out her porch window. She looks beyond the dusk of a spring afternoon into a field of poppies. They whisper to one another we will multiply. They remind her of a chaste night sky, an expanse of a thousand stars, and she resents them. She counts and counts each one—clinging onto glimpses of an Abrahamic blessing. As she closes the blinds, a flickering light dances across the expanse of flora. For a moment, a firefly’s light stills like a star in a red sea. She watches the firefly wander among the flora as if searching for something

a girl makes a wish
that every flower bear fruit 
and a firefly dies

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Why can’t I 

It’s so fucking frustrating, she told me
While we sat together, yesterday, in the living room I felt her voice—shake 

                                                                                 why can’t I just feel content for once, I can’t stop thinking
                                                                                                                                                                I knew nothing

about him and being worried all the time 
wondering if I should reach over because

                                                                                     I know in my head I still love him, but that’s not enough
                                                   I know she needs time, not the bitter requiem my words might offer, 

because I’m constantly worrying about so much,
can I be considered a real friend if I can’t bring myself to comprehend

                                       I wish I knew what it feels like to take a walk down a wooded path in silent rain 
                                                                                                          their thoughts pounding against my skull,

and yet not think about anything at all
so I could understand.

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Karissa Richardson is an aspiring writer, librarian, and teaching artist from Wisconsin. She will be graduating this winter from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BA in Information Science and Creative Writing.