One Small Accessory

It was always so little to ask ourselves

to wait in separate places for the world to end,

to wear one small accessory to save someone else,

meanwhile everyone eagerly chose a side, some

to wait in separate places for the world to end,

some to cry hoax and rebel in frenzied revelry.

Oh, how eagerly we chose sides! Some

withered, orphaned, and unhinged by social distance,

came to cry hoax and rebel in frenzied revelry,

while others came to march, defiant in solidarity, some

to wither, orphan and unhinge with social distance.

To martyrdom! To the end of tyranny! we cried,

while others came to march, defiant in solidarity, some

expecting things to change, others to stay the same

like martyrdom and tyranny. We cried

behind our masks, side by weary side,

expecting things to change, much to stay the same.

It was always so little to ask ourselves

behind our masks, side by weary side,

to wear one small accessory, to save everyone.

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Kelly Vance

Kelly Vance earned her MFA from Eastern Kentucky University, where she received the Emerging Writers Award for poetry in 2021. In selecting Vance for this award, Jen Currin wrote, “Vance’s voice is at turns humorous, tender, elegiac.” In addition to writing poetry, Kelly has a passion for encouraging young poets, serving as the Chair of Kentucky State Poetry Society's Annual Student Poetry Contest since 2019. She is also an adjunct professor for creative writing at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Latest posts by Kelly Vance (see all)

• One Small Accessory - June 20, 2024