Poetry fans, it's my pleasure to feature the gorgeous lyric poetry of Ellie Roseveare. Ellie writes from Denver, Colorado (USA) and is active in the poetry community online. Please enjoy her two poems, "I am my own growing garden" and "I am still afraid of the dark." Thank you, Ellie, for sharing your words with us!
Poem 1: I am my own growing garden
often I felt
like a wayward hydrangea bush
overgrown and creeping over fences
I wasn’t supposed to climb
I needed a gardener
to keep me kempt and confined
water me when I wilted
and prune away the ugly parts of me
lately I realized
I am my own gardener
and the growing garden too
the stamen and the pistil of every bloom
pollinated, carried away
taking root anew
I grow wherever I please
like a wayward hydrangea bush
overgrown and creeping over fences
I wasn’t supposed to climb
I needed a gardener
to keep me kempt and confined
water me when I wilted
and prune away the ugly parts of me
lately I realized
I am my own gardener
and the growing garden too
the stamen and the pistil of every bloom
pollinated, carried away
taking root anew
I grow wherever I please
Poem 2: I am still afraid of the dark
I’d like to walk with the night
like we were lovers
with my hands free to hold
not with my keys clutched
between my fingers
or hypotheticals in my head like
if I am attacked,
would my dog bite to kill?
I’d like to walk wine drunk and wayward
as if being twirled mid dance
with my shoulders and legs bare
not for purchase
like meat at a night market
I’d like to stroll, as if in love, as if safe
slowly through the lamp-lit streets
unafraid of who goes there in the dark
like we were lovers
with my hands free to hold
not with my keys clutched
between my fingers
or hypotheticals in my head like
if I am attacked,
would my dog bite to kill?
I’d like to walk wine drunk and wayward
as if being twirled mid dance
with my shoulders and legs bare
not for purchase
like meat at a night market
I’d like to stroll, as if in love, as if safe
slowly through the lamp-lit streets
unafraid of who goes there in the dark
Ellie Roseveare received her Bachelor's Degree in English Creative Writing at Colorado State University. Her junior and senior year, she won 3rd and 1st place respectively for the Creative and Performing Arts Scholarship in Creative Writing. Now, she works as a project manager in Denver, Colorado, and writes in her free time when not hiking and camping with her partner and two dogs.
Ellie is on Instagram @lilacformylovers
Ellie is on Instagram @lilacformylovers