Karen Hildebrand
Melania’s Lament
I strew my delicate flakes
on the shoulder of your vintage tweed
without regard for the cavalier way
you brush them off. I barge my way in
and land on your shovel, scrape clean
your Sunday plans, cranked up
on a fierce wind, I am.
No flake is all that fragile.
My tears are constant, each unique.
I cry for you, blizzard. I cry for you
giant chip of ice at the curb.
I cry for anyone on the street
as the glistening pile slides
from the midrise ledge on Seventh
and shoots to the sidewalk with a pop.
I am a snowflake on the first day
of spring, basking in stark sun
unafraid of damage to my pale skin.
I am a great thirst, pulling
from the root of a future dahlia.
Karen Hildebrand‘s recent poetry publications include, “Steve Bannon Visits the White House” (What Rough Beast, Indolent Books), “Benefits (in the voice of Kellyanne Conway)” (Maintenant 11, Three Rooms Press) and “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” (Portable Boog City Reader). “A History of Feminism,” forthcoming in great weather for MEDIA’s anthology, was a finalist for the 2017 Disquiet Literary Prize. In 2013, her work was adapted for the play, The Old In and Out, produced in NYC. She lives in Brooklyn and is chief content officer for Dance Magazine.
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