Crone

Done with the business
of being women
the mess of blood and babies
and bowing to men's desires
we live by no man's rules
Invisible we move
through the shadows of day
We say what we think
and don't try to please
anyone
You only see us
when you gaze past
the corners of your eyes
We tell whispered stories
beyond fairy tales
of things that happen
the warty frog
handsome prince who imprisons
warriors slaughtered
in kings' foolish schemes
children lost in dark forests
forever
We unseen ones could
rule the world

Published in The People's Press, 2006


Patricia Wellingham-Jones has written Don't Turn Away: Poems About Breast Cancer and End-Cycle: Poems about caregiving, among others. She is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and her work is published in numerous anthologies, journals and Internet magazines. A cancer survivor, she has a longtime interest in 'healing writing' and the benefits people gain from writing and reading their work together. Her website is www.wellinghamjones.com.