PROSE POETRY
D.A. VERWERS
MY DAUGHTER IS SIX AND UNAWARE OF THE HAZARDS OF HAIL
How she longs to pass through this storm barefoot in the hot twilight just to feel ice on her skin, to tilt the cold marble paradox, roll it side to side in her cupped hands. She hungers to bite into the miracle as if it were sweet manna from heaven skewered on blades of green emerald grass. Instead she watches from threshold safe, shielded from the ricochet of bb gun, protected from aimless solid bullets. She waits patient-like for bangs to fade into pacifist rain, for every
pewter cloud to shrink empty as winds hasten the promised evening forecast for peace.
About the poem:
The imbalance of fear and bravery is what I love most about this poem. Too much bravery can cause harm, but too much fear can paralyze. The poem captures a moment of potential pain from too much bravery. It's this same bravery in a hailstorm that emboldens me in uncertain times. It is a bravery that reminds me to lean into the wonder when I am gripped with fear - something I hope my daughter will continue to do, even if I won't let her play in the hailstorm.
D.A. Verwers lives in Columbia, S.C.
