Ellen Lord
Yearn
Lilacs glow in afternoon light—
insisting their scent into the air. I want to shine
like that, all succulence and sass. I slide on silence
into long, empty hours—try to live with who I am
and not what I thought I wanted. How I yearn
to be “freeze-framed”—all peak and profound.
awake beyond midnight
I remember catching fireflies as a kid, how they faded
in a mason jar with their last spark of lust—
The moon on those summer nights
followed me everywhere.
falling in love. . .
Years later, I have forgotten so much—
like how home never leaves us and why
we try so hard to get back there.
the cadence of rain
About the Author
Ellen Lord is a Northern Michigan native. Her writing has appeared in Bear River Writers Review, Dunes Review, Walloon Writers Review, U.P. Reader, HSA/Frogpond, and elsewhere. She is a behavioral health therapist, specializing in addiction and trauma. She resides in Charlevoix County and Trout Creek, Michigan. Her chapbook, Relative Sanity (2023), is available at ellenlordauthor.com.