Shield
~ a poem by Justin Palatsky
Sure, she gets lonely while braiding her hair
Weaving the strands so meticulously.
On the front porch in the same old chair
She looks into the prairie’s infinity.
The nearest town is an hour’s drive
And she visits but once a month.
It is far too rare for her to feel alive
And thus her soul gives up the hunt.
She’s tired of the constricting jeans
And the long hours in the field.
She wants to find out what life means
And find a boy to carry her shield.
Sure, she loves the horses and the sheep
But the animals are her
only friends
She’s tired of the life she leads
And yearns for what’s beyond the prairie’s end.
For too long has she swam in an ocean of corn
And hiked in mountains of cabbage
She is waiting to finally be reborn
And this time without any baggage
She wants a splendid night on the town
And a nice boy to buy her a meal
She likes how all of this sounds
And how a boy could carry her shield
Sure, she still believes this all could come true
And she dreams of it every night
But when the night ends and leaves its dew
She awakes in panicked fright.
Her reality of life in this void
Is a constant struggle throughout the day.
But still she dreams that somehow a boy
Will come into her life to whisk her away
She has wished upon every star in the sky
While counting the sheep in the field
But she knows that deep down inside
That boy would be carrying a broken shield.
