Heather M. F. Lyke
Independence: July 4, 2020
Large celebrations not recommended,
I sit alone on my balcony.
Wrapped in my blue robe worn thin,
the cool breeze is interrupted by fireworks
illegally purchased from across the river
where freedom apparently looks different.
Their red starbursts blasting
warning shots into the sky:
an insistence that their traditions
are more important than lives.
Their thick smoke suffocating
the white flag we keep waving
to this pandemic that doesn’t subside.
Humidity restrains the torched air
from these fires that cut the blackness
and burn our skies:
creating a cloud across our country.
I couldn’t sleep if I tried.
—Submitted on 07/10/2020
Heather M. F. Lyke’s poetry has appeared in Frost Meadow Review, In Parentheses, The Dewdrop, and AfterWork. She holds a BA from Concordia College, and teaches writing and literature at a high school in southern Minnesota. Online at heatherlyke.weebly.com.
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