Prepared
I am missing some of me, parts
that Spirit sent perfectl yet
omniscient knew would need
renew, the gracefully sculpted hip
two knees that learned to
freeze and lock, interrupted
ease, crushed to a pulp
pared breasts like 4H fruit
blossomed beyond proportion
a distortion a surgeon repaired
in fact, every modification
improved my life, what may
seem like strife a blessing
should we be addressing
as well the losses we can’t see
the divot in the swell of love
every baby brings, the pluck
the shuck of casual unkindness
the wreck of neglect and sometimes
the awful shudder of crimes mean
and deliberate, those calculated
forays to which none is immune
yet some disintegrate and flatten
while others accept a boon
and, since character fattens,
they have leapt beyond the battens
the soul has laid its course, the
constant plums that come disguised
can be a fortune that we mine
avoid recoil from the test, which may
lead us to our best, and nurture
the hallowed still intact (even when
we have been racked) as another
sort of prayer that will sift the glutted
air, rain benediction meant for you when
a throttling sends a surge that few
expect and cannot ride because fear’s
allowed to squelch the tide all we
need resides inside for the taking
Rose Bedrosian is a California poet and artist. She received her B.A. in Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she edited the literary magazine Spectrum and won The Frank W. Coulter Prize for poetry. She was a first-place winner of the Santa Barbara Independent poetry competition. Her work has been widely published and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is the author of the chapbooks The Anatomy of Answered Prayer, Sparkle in the Dark, and What the Spaniel Knows.
Amethyst Review 