Woman Ironing

I woke up believing it was a different time
A quieter time
A time when silence inspires us
A time when families spent time with each other
Then I saw the date
The Church linens are fully dry
Although the priest won't be needing them for quite some time
I iron
And look out the window as children play and mothers sing

The Mill

$2.19 for a day's wage
I work all day risking limbs, barefoot
For what, a loaf of bread and 2 potatoes
Somehow this ain't right
I'm ready to get married, have babies
You tell me, how am I supposed to find a husband
No time but Sunday to talk a man
I dream of marrying a preacher
Of course, I'd still be poor
But, people would look up to me
Want to shake my hand
Not look at me as if I were a discarded piece of thread
Two days ago
A little girl came into the mill
She was so tiny, she looked like a doll
All smiles
I wish she were mine to dress up
She died that day
Something went wrong
No one cried, not then anyway
Everyday I pray to make it to Sunday
The only day I got no fear

Value and Lace

I grew up in this orphanage
My parents, I can't even remember their faces
The sisters did the best they could
We were fed, clothed, sheltered
They made sure they kept just tidy
The best thing they did was teach me to sew
Upon graduation, I knew how to make lace
Not a bad skill
I may come from nothing, be nothing
But the sisters taught us about value
Value for ourselves and others
We all belong to God
And with this skill, I will teach another little girl about value as we lace together
And a wave will continue

Letter to the Maid of Orlean

This has been a tough year
No school
No friends
Family shows little interest
And then there's the sickness
Obsessions on the obscure have transferred over to a fever and cough
But she is not sick
We are not sick
At night she says she wants to be a nun
 Today her frustration are rising
I tell her to ask St Joan of Arc to pray for her
She writes a letter
I am forbidden to read it
The letter goes in the mailbox headed for heaven

The Scream

Goblin screams in pain
But what can I do?
A frightened being such as myself can do nothing
I am small with no strength
So I chose to shut my door
My work must be finished
There are deadlines
The screams wont stop
Someone put it out if its misery
If I had a weapon I would
Straight through the heart
For a few moments there was silence
Sweet silence
But it was short lived
Screams return
Will someone make it stop
After pacing for hours
I go to the king
Rant about this goblin and the screams and how I fear for the kingdom.
I don't know what I expected
The goblin's death
A reward
A room at the palace for my pitiful attempt at protecting the kingdom.
Instead he gave me a cup of tea
Told me to release the goblin
Dress his wounds
You and the goblin are equally my servants

Sleeping Child

As you sleep, I sing a lullaby
Most of the words I don't know, so I hum the tune
I ponder this day what my world would be like without you
No screaming fits
No midnight vomiting
No rushing to the hospital
But then there would be no
Joy
Late night giggles
Nightly prayers
More importantly, without you I would still be in the desert
The desert of doubt
The desert of anger and longing
Longing for peace, a sense of belonging,
Jesus

Power of Prayer

Everyday I ask God to let me go
Guess he don't want that
Still here
I can't work, so food is scarce
Headaches won't go away
Every week someone comes to check on me
Today is was someone young
Don't think she ever saw a beat up soldier like me
She cleaned, made dinner, and then prayed
They always pray
I silently listen
She was different
She felt what she was praying and clung to her beads like it was a life jacket
She left but the beads stayed
I only knew the first two words of the prayers
But those words seemed to make all the pain go away