One Poem by Petra F. Bagnardi

 

Hate Crime

Cypresses whisper –  sentinels of a solemn graveyard and a young mourner.

Memories hum –  a cherished name uttered in a broken whisper;

a mind brimming with memories – a timid glance;

a boy reaching for a boy's hand;

the thrill of lips grazing a stubbly chin.

But the gentle remembrance is now smeared with words of hate.

The gravestone fades into a pavement drenched in blood –

a young life stolen by murky ignorance and malicious intolerance.

The mourner's frame quiver with a sudden gust of anger.

The sentinels sway in response – branches compose a lament.

The wind is dense with the echoes of vows exchanged:

I will never hide my heart behind spiteful despair;

my voice will not vanish before injustice;

but my soul will stay merciful.

The young mourner bows his head, and promises anew.

Petra F. Bagnardi is a TV screenwriter, a theater playwright and actress, and a poet. She was short-listed in the Enfield Poets' Twentieth Anniversary Poetry Competition, and her work was featured in Masque & Spectacle Literary Journal, Punk Noir Magazine, Trouvaille Review, Black Poppy Review, and Call Me [Progress] the sixth Issue of the literary journal, Call Me [Brackets].

Writing as Petra March, she won several awards and honours. She is also a Library Journal Self-e Select author.