melissaahowells - No Broom Could Chase Me.

they came in winter
they came in spring
they were my legion
I was their Queen

they were the sightless
they were the wounded
they were the hopeless
treated without conscience
the invisible ones
but I saw them
and they sought me

I fed them
with little scraps
I fed them
with soft words
I offered courage--
the tender bites of my humanity
I saw in them
a likeness so recognizable
I saw in them
the right to be

they were they the chased
they were the banished
they were the despised
they were the hunted
they were the weeds

I wanted to help
to soothe and encourage--
to let them know
they weren't as lost
as they seemed to be

I felt their small hopes
I felt their growing fears
I felt their sighs of relief
when they saw me

but Mother took her broom
and her spiked words
and scattered them
away from me

You are their Queen
ha
they are your beggars
they are your strays
they are a menace
drive them away

You-you
your cat Muffin
bring them home
as surely as a Pied Piper
attracts fleas
then slinks away

one day I came home
from school
and Muffin was gone
thrown like trash
pushed out into the cold garage
a farmer came in winter--
took her away

now my cat
and our minions
have been disposed of
and I feel lost
just like
the strays

I was their Queen
they were my legion
they were my comfort
the ones I
could understand

I saw their hearts
in the middle of their faces
I saw myself
my unusual persistence
no broom would ever
chase that indignant heart
in me away.....

LEGAL COPYRIGHT FOR THIS POEM--FEBRUARY 4 2021 9:42 TIME AND DATE STAMPED
AND ALSO FOR THIS WRITER/POET/MELISSA A. HOWELLS
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MELOO STRAIGHT FROM HER TILT-A-WORLD