"Grow Instead of Burn"

By Dex

Could I give this time
and take less
Build gardens
instead of moats
Be so full already
that love is just a blessing
that spills out of me
in softness

When I iron shirts
pack lunches
and run out the door
to hold his face
the second his car pulls in

Could I give this time
could his feet be planted
on steady ground
so that when I kneel down
to wash them
my tears water trees
instead of mudslides
and when I bury my daggers
they stay beneath the soil

And if he were enough of a man
to lead more surely
than I can lead myself
Could I step inside his footprints
All the way to the edge
of cliffs I’ll never have to leap from
Could I build us
a boat out of love notes
where every tilt creates ripples
that serve to remind me
We are afloat
on a lake that never freezes

Could I give this time
To a man who surrounds my fire
with stones
and we both stay warm
Where the forests I’ve watered
grow instead of burn.

---

Dex is a poet and former USMC Military Police Officer. She also happens to be the Managing Producer here at VetRep. You can follow her here.

---

What’s happening at VetRep…

Catch our interview this week with Corban Lundborg on the Savage Wonder Podcast here.

Tickets are going fast for the Parlor this season, reserve your seats for Woody Allen’s Central Park West here before they sell out! For the month of June we will be opening Central Park West with the winner of our inaugural 10-minute play competition, Fifteen Dead Souls, by Leilani Squire.

We are currently offering multiple dates for our online and in-person Playwriting for Veterans classes, and our Acting for Beginners class is now being offered weekly every Saturday from 10am-12pm. Scholarships for qualifying veterans, as well as multi-class passes are available. Registration details can be found here.