The Garden Feminine

 

"Roots" 1943 by Frida Kahlo

Where the sea died, and the mind shriveled,

I rooted myself in the dire tread of human footprints,

and defied misogyny to regenerate the heart of Eve’s Garden. 

©Susie Clevenger 2021

The Sunday Muse #171

Treading Plastic

 

"Hello (Hello)

I'll tell you all the people I know (I know)

Sell you somethin' that you already own (You own)

I can be whoever you want me to be"
Plastic Hearts ~ Miley Cyrus

I feel at arm’s length,

close enough to see,

but far enough away

to not be smothered in plastic.

 

On the dance floor where

everyone calls me baby

I laugh and turn, step and misstep

to shrill notes of she’s the

life of the party.

 

In the glitter of bedazzled blind spots

I can appear to be what I’m not so the shallow

can swim without a lifeguard.

 ©Susie Clevenger 2021

The Sunday Muse #170

Concrete Flesh of Morning

 

Photography by Artist, Jasper James

I am the face of the city,

eyes pressed into morning

holding my breath.

 

Alarm clocks pound migraine drums

through my head to announce the rise and whine

of humans crawling into a new day.

 

With a bold broom

sunlight sweeps my doorsteps

into moldy gray glitter so

caffeinated souls can see

what they can’t feel.

 

Vehicles begin their rumble crawl

in asthmatic gasps of engine and oil

through streets hatching across my ribs.

 

In the widening iris of hours

I exhale yesterday’s weight

and breathe in the hope

today’s politics won’t cripple me.

 ©Susie Clevenger 2021

The Sunday Muse #168

 

 

 

Finding Myself in the Moon

 

Treading water in the river of moons

I drink gulps of light from my own reflection.

 

Baptized in visions I see tomorrow’s woe

stalking me on the horizon.

A wolf spirit speaks through my bones,

“Let yourself feel fear. It’s the first seed of courage.”

©Susie Clevenger 2021

The Sunday Muse #166

There's Something in the Water

 

In the river of moons

the voice of a raven

guides mortals

to the path of light.

 

Dancing out of shadows

mystics part the cerulean curtain

with palms filled with stars

to feed visions.

 

The bloated corpse of narrow minds

opens its tongue of wounds

to release treasured thorns

into the eye of revelation.

 

Luna winks her cloudless eye to stir

watered stones to sing the song of knowing

into ears that must listen and weigh

every word before they speak.

 ©Susie Clevenger 2021

The Sunday Muse #162

Athena's Rose

 

He winked his commands

along my body until he reached

the iron curve of my hips.

 

A cutting from Athena’s rose

I owned the yes of my blooming

and the thorny reach of my no.

 

He thought he’d dance me through

the devil’s garden only to find

he wasn’t given the power to lead.

 

 ©Susie Clevenger 2021

The Sunday Muse #160

Scissoring the Wind

 

Out on the steel of bright blue sky

I carry the moon on my lips.

 

I dance between my light and dark,

hold sunshine on my fingertips

while my toes search shadows.

 

Freedom is taking scissors to the wind

to cut my own map before I’m caught

in the choice of someone else’s direction.

©Susie Clevenger 2021

The Sunday Muse #158