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To be my friend—
to tolerate the urgings
of a restless heart,
to withstand
impossible demands
for loyalty, morality,
and strength—
requires patience,
wisdom, and great rectitude.
However,
these demands
are not for me alone:
I wish my women friends
to be such demigoddesses,
to move upon the earth
in veils of power,
without attracting negative
attention, yet getting
what is fundamentally
deserved.
Alison Jennings is a Seattle-based poet who taught in public schools before returning to poetry. She’s had a mini chapbook and 125 other poems published in numerous journals—including Cathexis Northwest Press, Mslexia, Poetic Sun, Red Door, and Society of Classical Poets—plus been a semi-finalist in several contests.