Dignity

By Melissa Kalinowski

When strong she made a cloak from bark. Many years
her heart grew beneath it. One day the attacks began.
First came the thunderstorms throwing hail and strong
winds. Next, a plague of beetles pierced her skin to set
up encampments and rampantly multiplied. As their
young crawled about and fed on her tissues they made
a grim maze that scarred the walls of her heart. They
wanted to grow up like their mothers. As her sweet sap
dried up from damage, her crown withered. The light
dimmed without new buds to shine. Then it was night,
only night—a bony figure with graceful arms upraised.

First appeared in Concision Poetry Journal, Issue 2.2

© 2023 Melissa Kalinowski. All rights reserved.