Five Poems by Linda M. Crate

 

a sky in which we danced together

you were a painting

stepping into the magic

of life,

each step measured

and practiced;

woodland faerie

dancing in the wild world

of humanity—

you were the sunlight

lilting through the trees,

every pink sunrise

and sunset of my life

sang to me of you;

you were the princess

of the sun—

& i, your loyal vampire,

the princess of the moon 

hoped that there was some sky

in which we danced together.

immortal and ancient as we

 

eighteen

years i've loved you,

and i know this love

will not fade;

it is a forever flame i hold—

a candle that cannot 

be blown out,

i thought perhaps one day

that i would simply move on;

but you are unforgettable—

i am tethered to this wild

heart of mine who 

loves you no matter how many

oceans or moons part us,

perhaps one day we will dance

through the trees;

and love will blossom in the

wildflowers as well as

our hearts—

immortal and ancient as we.

not even by time

you are a rosefinch,

and i am a raven;

perhaps there is some

universe in which we fly

in the same sky—

but i'd be lying if i didn't

say i wish that we could find

a sky where the sun of you

and the moon of i could know

each other like we do in 

my dreams,

in a love that never dies;

remembered by both trees

and stars forever—

our hearts unique melodies

becoming the perfect song

when our love built itself alive,

creating new universes

and breathing new skies;

where water and sky and earth

and fire all knew a love so

powerful it could never be vanquished

not even by time.

centuries upon centuries

 

sunlit faerie of 

flame and earth,

lilting your song

among the trees;

long have i admired you—

i am a moonlight vampire

of water and wind,

but i think together our 

music may make a song so

pretty even the sun and moon

and stars would listen;

if you take my hand

and i take yours

perhaps we could find a way

to dance through life together?

i have pined for you 

for centuries,

and i'll pine for a thousand more;

but i want to dance in the

warmth of the dreams i've had

in which we were wives

for at least a thousand eternities more.

 

maybe one day we'll be of the same sky

 

i've seen the gold

of your brown eyes,

seen the sunlight of your soul

as it shimmers in this sea of life;

you woke in me the dreaming

when i thought it was dead and gone—

my moon mother may have

taught me i was beautiful in all of

my phases,

but you taught me there was beauty

even in my scars;

i was never brave enough

to confess my love to

you—

but i tire of being a coward:

i love you then and love you still

for i always have and i always will,

and if you cannot reciprocate

i do understand;

but i'll hold onto the hope that

we were wives in my dreams

in a different land and maybe that

will have to be enough—

but i pray one day we will have

adventures together you & i,

where we become entwined in the same sky.

Linda M. Crate (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer whose poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has eighteen published chapbooks the latest being: crescent moon (Fae Corps Publishing, July 2026).