What we need

By Elaine Starkman

We women need poems –
Leaping lines to store
For cold winter nights
When our tongues crave juice;
Mirrors to the inside of our heads
When we cannot find our own reflections;
Fancies that keep us
From meaningless work.
Depressions, holidays, lovers,
Prayers, friends
Won’t do the trick alone;
The emptiness only snaps back.
But immersing minds,
Losing our bodies
Letting our poems
Take on an enormity,
Grace,
Sanctity,
Fill us with delicious
Worth that feeds our hunger.