Love Poem for the Abandoned Child

Love Poem for the Abandoned Child Marya Summers (bio) For too long, child, youhave chased the heartsof those who deserted their ownsurveying pinched facesparched terrainfor family for a placeto call home, stilllooking to prove your worthin the conversionof the loveless Soon, you will begin to quietly buildYourself a home within yourselfAround the hearth that was always there Love will blossom as you gather yearsLike wildflowers, as you look at a meadowLike a mirror, seeing your own wild Beauty on the weathered face of a mountainYou will reach back into your historyInvoking the love of generation, of generations You will feel in your heart the calmBeating of lifetimes of unstruck power andBecome a thundercloud releasing the blessed rain [End Page 137] Marya Summers Marya Summers is a disabled poet who lives unhoused with her cat Perceval as a result of environmental illness and lack of accessible housing. She is a 2023 Lighthouse Writers New Voices Fellow and former Poet-in-Residence at Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art. Her work has appeared in Tiferet Journal, Kaleidoscope Magazine, Soul-Lit Journal, and Encore 2023 anthology (National Federation of State Poetry Societies' contest winners), among others. Find her at whollycreative.com.