Dear Sister

Did we surrender?
In those lost little brackets of expression
right between the sighs and cries
but underneath the blunt reality
how could we surrender?
Laying face first into her shape
Loss for language, lax and languish
No sound now
further down now
2 woven petals among the same stem
we wept and drenched her
but never surrendered.

So why does the victory escape me
every moment my tongue
twisting over teeth
unable to bend or curve just as hers
we part and remain but the presence
the presence turns vacuous
Though I hold still and insolent
I am lost to the white flags
my own hanging heavy from my chest
when did we surrender dear sister?
To this blatant dishonoring
of our sacrifices and devices

In memory I am triumphant
standing still again while my crux
shatters in my frame.
You too, dear sister, stalwart and worthy
In your might and armor
we clenched our fences

And grew stronger

Flags detached, flying wistfully, farther from their stem
our arms locked together now as we have no need for them.

Kelly Curiel
February 18, 2009
10:20 pm
1st Draft