“Beacon” - Marleny Averitt

She craved connection.

To be in control and free of pain,

God, she craved to belong.

She prayed for release

and summoned strength

from deep within her roots

to learn. To accept. To forgive.

On the surface she existed,

an angelic smile disguised

the hell that lived beneath

the sheath of her true companion.

She craved acceptance.

To alleviate the venom

evermore dancing in her veins.

She prayed for restoration,

for a faith long ago buried

beneath a cherry blossom tree.

God, she craved to be revived

and freed from this feeble vessel,

to recollect the ashes of a

tempest past, and liberate them

becoming one with the ocean breeze –

She beheld one final sunset,

Orange hues stretched across

a finite sky she’d soon reside.

Kissed the scars left behind

from a world she pegged unkind.

Platinum shelters what remains.

She found deliverance.

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Marleny Averitt was born was born and raised in Los Angeles, California before moving to Washington State to follow and support her eldest brother who had been stationed in Fort Lewis. She likes to describe her poetry as the face of pain and captures emotion and relatable experiences. She dedicates much of her work to her brother who died in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom as most of her work reflects the power of pain and life experience after her loss. She wishes to be the voice for those that do not have one.