Meriwether Clarke

Wildflower

                                          
No one saw
As I looked through
Blades of grass
Felt sunlight and sky
Wash down my stem

No one heard me promise
To always keep myself
To wither, die
Before another’s hand
Could tear my roots
Break my veins
Tell me I am
Not my own.
​​

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Arriving Young

The palm leaves breathed
As you waded into light
Home now among the
Mountain shade
First glimpse of pacific

I wish I knew you then
At nineteen
Your hand falling out
The front car window

The sky no longer
Air and wind
But a tangible thing
A piece of time
To place beside
Your pocket watch
To keep.

​

 

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Meriwether Clarke is a poet living in Chicago, IL. A graduate of Northwestern University’s undergraduate creative writing program, she was the 2010 winner of the J. Scott Clark Scholarship for Aptitude and Excellence in Creative Writing. Her work has previously been published in Helicon Literary Magazine, Prompt and The Stillwater Review.