I’ve been feeling guilty lately,
like a person who has survived
within a crowd of perished people.
I’ve been thinking about getting married,
Well, thinking about my parents’ brief marriage.
How hard it must have been to validate their love
black and white
back in the day
in the South.
But, here I am
ten years into a relationship
controversial in its own right, though
longer than my parent’s marriage lasted.
As a girl I wondered
if two people together
were about love or endurance.
As a woman, I know love
is victorious mountains, and
pitiful valleys.
I am anxious to accept that what made me
was not as sound as what I’m making.
link to video
Mel Sherrer (She/Her) is a writer, editor, and educator. She teaches and conducts Creative Writing and Performance Literature workshops. Her work is featured in SWWIM, Black Lesbian Literary Collective, Limp Wrist Magazine, Interim Poetics, The Racket Journal, and others. She currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.
