Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets, and occasionally poets across the country. Today we feature work from Kellie Joy of Utah.
Joy goes by Phoenix Lilly. She started writing poetry around 12 years old. She said she was an awkward child and poetry gave her a voice. She writes about social issues as well as her own pain. Her husband lives in Afghanistan and he’s also a poet and humanitarian. She said it’s difficult knowing how his life is and being apart is something she can’t summarize, but she'll keep the faith that they'll be together soon. Here is why she writes:
“I’m a poet because my life needs something contained on the page so people can take a little something to feel they are not alone,” Joy said.
Today’s poem is called “Her Fire.”
Sometimes she would rather loosen her stitches so she can breathe
Even if it means she has to break down
She knows there’s magic in tears
She knows her soul needs to shed itself sometimes
You can’t tell her she’s beautiful if you don’t understand her fire
If you can’t get close enough to her heart
She can’t hear you
She’s independent and strong
But is soft enough to love
Heavenly and kind
When the world is a scary place there’s no doubt you have lover and a light
In everything
Her touch depends on you
Her love is as easily heated as it can turn cold
She’s fierce and unapologetically herself
Don’t confuse ambition with vanity
Don’t water down her goals
And at night when the world is silent
And it’s just the two of you
Hold her so close
That you feel magic
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
