by Marion Evalee
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| Carrying a jumbo rainbow flag onto the Salem Common under the rainbow arch are Ken Elie, left and Ed Hurley, right of the group Boston Pride, who turned out to support the North Shore Pride group. Joe Brown photo via The Salem News, June 25, 2023 |
The great Arc-en-ciel
Is colorless,
Not on the wing.
A heart needs something,
Color needs light,
A flag needs the wind—
Whoever’s eternal
Rebounding breath
Has deadened with the night,
As it often does.
I keep walking
Over what was
The parade grounds
(What will be the Commons
By the time we celebrate
Our independence)
Like an old vet,
Though it’s getting dark.
Is colorless,
Not on the wing.
A heart needs something,
Color needs light,
A flag needs the wind—
Whoever’s eternal
Rebounding breath
Has deadened with the night,
As it often does.
I keep walking
Over what was
The parade grounds
(What will be the Commons
By the time we celebrate
Our independence)
Like an old vet,
Though it’s getting dark.
Marion Evalee, a Pushcart Prize nominee, has appeared in The Amethyst Review, Willows Wept, Survivor Lit, The Boston Compass, Neologism, and Montage. A selection of her poetry is featured in the anthology 14 International Younger Poets (Art and Letters, 2021). She lives in Salem, Massachusetts.