Fragments by Radiance Angelina Petro

Fragments

By

Radiance Angelina Petro

 

 

I.

I go around

With my jaws clenched.

I notice it now ever since

My right jaw has begun to lock

In rebellion while eating.

At night, my teeth work,

Grinding away at whoever it was

I was never meant to be.

 

 

 

II.

Once I saw the skull of a cat

Hanging on a string draped over a gravestone.

It was left there by some Satanists my friend Kris said—

Not the kind of Satanists today that hang around schools

And share vaguely humanistic guidelines for living—

But the kind that, in the early 80’s, met up in graveyards,

Sacrificed cats, and tried to dismantle themselves

From themselves by way of blood and sex.

I am not making this up.  I have met people

Who live this way.

And if they ever come anywhere near my cat

I will pound wooden crosses

Into their chests.

 

 

 

 

III.

Whatever it is inside

That says to me, day in, day out:

“Go.  There is nothing here.”

Quieted yesterday.  I am only now

Noticing it, because today

I woke to it screaming in my ear.

 

 

 

 

IV.

Inside the bone,

Living marrow streams,

Holding it all together,

In much the same way

A traveling current of glue

Keeps me from leaping off the world.

 

 

 

 

V.

Sense of purpose:  Darkness.

Seeing the way ahead:  Gone.

So many things to do: Exhausted.

The few, illusive moments of hope: Untetherable.

 

 

 


 




Please help support my continuing transition.  Thank you. Radiance <3

 


I Met an Ocean Who Laughs in Many Tongues, by Radiance Angelina Petro

I Met An Ocean Who Laughs in Many Tongues

By

Radiance Angelina Petro

 

 

I met an ocean who laughs in many tongues.

Every night she spills treasures from her blue apron

For those who seek in the morning, for those who look down

When they walk.  She coaxes awe and calm

From their feet by swirling kisses around them,

And if you were to pause right there in the middle

Of one of her feet-kisses—as she moves ever so slightly

Hire up your ankles—and really try to take in

Her presence–she would undress you from you,

And then, in one slow revelation, she would bathe you in you,

And ease your breath into sweet gasping,

And send her laughter lapping into your soul,

And if you have learned anything

From such intensity of attention,

Then, as you turn

To go, you will

Allow her

One, last, lingering touch,

And in her fiery, cool fingers

You will hear her laughter in many tongues

Rising passed your solar plexus, and far beyond

Into your brain, your ears, your voice,

And you will find yourself

Looking up into her partner, the sky,

Who will be by then reaching down to lift you

As you walk, deliriously singing,

Back into the world.

.

 

 


 

 




Please support my continued transition.  Thank you, Radiance <3

You and I Have Beauty to Share, A Poem in Words and Pictures, by Radiance Angelina Petro

You and I Have Beauty to Share

A Poem in Words and Pictures

By

Radiance Angelina Petro

 

 

poem image 1

 

Come.

Come take me

One little piece of pollen at a time.

Come.  I want you to.

***

poem image 2

 

Once I hid as a star,

Guarded by wisdom.

***

poem image 3

 

When I was ready

I unfolded wisdom’s spiral.

***

poem image 4

 

And allowed life’s dream

To draw me into the world.

***

poem image 5

 

For some, their wisdom will be fancy—

For there is such a thing as fancy wisdom.

***

poem image 6

 

Others bear wisdom that tightly guards–

Wanting to be absolutely sure before giving the word.

***

 

poem image 7

 

Regardless, when you are ready,

No matter where anyone else is in their stages of development

 

***

poem image 8

 

You

Will

Open.

Just like I did.

 

***

poem image 9

 

And you will say, come.

Come take me, one little grain of pollen at a time,

And you will share your gold

With the hive of the heart of another.

***

poem image 10

 

For that is why we have been planted here,

In the dark soil of the earth.

***

 

poem image 11

 

You and me–

We are meant to share the fragrance of the light we bring.

***

 

poem image 12

 

Until wisdom says, enough, go back

To being a star.

 

***

poetic image 13

 

For now, go ahead, shout your trumpets of joy,

Spread your granules of sweetness—

You and I have beauty to share.

 

 

 

 


 

 


Please help support my continued transition.  Thank you.  Radiance


The Moment, a Short Story Told in Poetry and Prose, by Radiance Angelina Petro

The Moment

A Short Story Told in Poetry and Prose

By

Radiance Angelina Petro

 

 

I.

Yesterday a moment passed me by at the flea market.

She moved through the bangles, baubles, silks, bric-a-brac, knives, and rings.

I saw her and she me.  In fact she turned to look at me full in the face,

And I know she was just about to tell me that every wonderful thing

Anyone has ever said about me is true—that I am a powerful force for good in this world.

We looked at each other as people passed by eating funnel cakes, ignoring us.

And just as I moved towards to her to ask her for a single, simple embrace,

She suddenly began to pull away—as if reeled backwards by some cruel fisherman,

And as she vanished, and as I began to push through people to chase after her,

She called out–I swear I heard her call out over the sounds of the many angry voices:

“Remember,” she called, “remember just how important you are.  It’s all true.”

And at the last second, as I nearly caught her to pull her off whatever terrible hook that was in her,

She stretched out her hand, and I fell forwards trying to grasp it, missing it by inches.

Then she was gone–swallowed up into nothing, never to be seen again.

 

II.

As I sat down right there, with people having to suddenly navigate a person sitting in the middle of the floor, I began to weep.  After a few minutes, out of nowhere, a little girl, holding her mother’s hand, stopped and said to her mother, “Mommy look, someone is sitting on the floor crying.”

“Ignore her,” her mother said trying to pull her along, but the girl stood stock still, forcing her mother to stop.  And then, the little girl let go of her mother’s hand, and leaned in close to me and said, “Lady, what’s the matter?  Why are you crying?”

I looked up at her. Her face was full and wise, and powdered with sugar from eating some treat—probably a funnel cake, I thought.  And then I said: “Sweet one, I almost touched a moment I’ve always wanted to touch—or that I’ve always wanted to have touch me.  She was just here, little girl, and we got close—so close, but then she got dragged away and disappeared, and I am afraid I will never find her ever again, nor she me. That, little sweet one, is why I am sitting here in the middle of the floor crying, like a baby.”

“Oh,” said the girl.

“Come ON,” said the mother, reaching down trying to grab her by the arm.

“In a minute,” she said, shrugging her mother away.

“It’s OK,” I said to her, you can go with your mother.  I’ll be alright.”

“What did she look like?” she asked.

“Oh,” I said, “she was beautiful.  More beautiful than anyone or anything I have ever seen.”

“What was she wearing?”

“Oh,” I said, “she was wearing this flowing shift of white light that made her look like she was wearing heaven.”

“I see,” she said, and then stood up, for she had sat down across from me on the floor to conduct her little interview, much to her mother’s displeasure.

“Well,” she said, reaching up for her mother’s hand, “I hope you find her again.”

“Thank you,” I laughed, “you’re very kind.”

“Let’s go,” said her mother, and then to me, “Get up lady.  Look around you.  Do you see anyone else sitting around crying in the middle of the floor because they missed their moment?  Get up. You’re in the way.”

And as they walked into the crowd, I looked after them and, to my amazement they were both wearing flowing shifts of white light that made them look like they were wearing heaven.  How had I not noticed that before? I wondered.  And as I stood, I staggered, and saw everyone was wearing flowing shifts of white light, and as I braced myself against my fears, I righted my back, stood tall, and began walking again full of wonder, my own shift of white light trailing behind me, like the train of a bridal gown.  It was everything I could do to refrain my hands from touching every face I saw.  It was everything I could to not ask each and every person if I could hug them.  It was everything I could do not to sing. And then, as I continued moving through the sea of white light, there, right next to me, holding my hand, was my moment.  She was laughing, beckoning me to look around us, and as I did, I laughed too, and knew in my heart that everything wonderful anyone ever said about me was true.

 

 


 

 

Please help support my continuing transition.  All my love. Radiance. <3