The Word – a poem by Mary Kipps

The Word

In this time,
when so much has been silenced,
I will speak this word.

I will make it the heroine
of the stories I tell my daughter,
so she too
can carry it with her.

I will weave it into all that I remember
and which she has never known:
the carefree play of children,
the cook-stove smell of roasting meat,
and moonlight on bloodless snow.

I will call on it for the return
of husbands and sons, fathers and brothers;
for the reuniting
of sisters and friends.

I will wield it against this ebb of sense
and civility, and I will have faith
that it will not abandon us.

.

Mary Kipps is a US writer whose poetry has appeared in literary journals and anthologies around the world since 2005. She is also the author of three Kindle eBooks: All in Vein, A Sucker for Heels, and Bitten: A Practical Guide to Dating a Vampire.