orange poppies on zala’s grave
placed with love upon a heart
cradled in her hand a stone
curved and carved and pressed tight
fingers stretch across all night
are we so different than
the old poppy holder’s hand
then and now compassion moans
bones and rigid brows define
ancient ribbons bleed and wind
reconstruct and gave a name
she picked flowers in the rain
Rita S. Spalding has had poems published in numerous anthologies and magazines. Her first book, Abstract Ribbons, was published in 1992. A second book, The Eighth, is currently at a publisher. She has received awards for poetry from Jefferson Community and Technical College, Elizabethtown Community College, National Library of Poetry, Kentucky Monthly Magazine and the Kentucky State Poetry Society. In 2024 she was a presenter at the Kentucky Writers Celebration in Danville and Historic Penn’s General Store, the Last Insomniacathon and she gives poetry readings regionally on a regular basis.
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