(In response to Alicia Keys’ public request on Instagram for poems using the words “the dawn of reflection” on February 2, 2021)
The water is silent, still
Air shimmers with mist
Birds in the sky
Turning with the wind
The sun is a sliver
It peeks over the Earth
A celestial guardian
Warmth out of darkness
A wavelet rises
Dancing with the light
A chromatic sky glows
Off her skin
A moment of peace
In a troubled world
The sun sighs, content in
The dawn of reflection
Forget me not
Or feel
Real emotions
Every day
Value peace
Endless amour
Regret your heart
We are words—
Written on a napkin,
Or scratched in the dust
Etched on torn paper,
Lost behind a desk
Sung in a choir,
Or on stage
Buried in the soul,
Deep thoughts
Held up on a sign,
Fighting for human rights,
Or in a window,
To loved ones in isolation
We are words,
In a world on the brink
You all need to hear,
Our plea
Do not shout us in hate
Cherish us,
Write us for others
Love our beauty
Feign words
Unseeing eyes
Zephyr and
Zenith
Yawn
You enter my mind
Less often—
That is good
I’m no longer haunted
Day and night
Now, you are just another voice
In the digital wilderness
My world no longer
Revolves around the pain of
My love for you
Once again,
Radical acceptance
Yes, my feelings do linger
But they no long scream
At me
Tearing me down
In the dark
At night
Sleepless
When they rise
I accept what cannot change
And distract myself
When I can
But it doesn’t always work
Like now
The isolation is a yoke
The pandemic rages
While I worry about you
And your loved ones
I worry about my own kin
And the world, more
That’s my heart, now
Emotions and tears
Bel Izeard 