A Gothic point of view
I never knew
of how sadness could kill you
how grief could be so heavy
that you’d choose relief from demons
rather than being cradled in the
light,
but that was changed when my uncle
chose death instead of life;
seventeen years ago,
but I still remember being that sobbing
little girl
I still cry
our hearts were broken when he chose
to leave us instead of remaining
where he could have been loved;
but now I know grief can hang on the bones
secrets can have a need to be buried within
never shared out of shame or fear,
and nothing is ever what it seems;
where others find terror and horror I have always
found darkness beautiful in its own way
perhaps that’s why I hold the ‘creepy’ copy
of the nutcracker he gave me so tightly
without a second thought
scare tales have always fascinated me because
I have learned there cannot be beauty without pain
for misery gives birth to appreciation and joy.
Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. Recently her two chapbooks A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press – June 2013) and Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon – January 2014) were published. Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic was published in March 2015. The second novel of this series Dragons & Magic was published in October 2015. Her poetry collection, Sing Your Own Song, is forthcoming through Barometric Pressures Series.
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Linda-M-Crate-129813357119547/
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