Pain is a small price
to pay for clarity.
Just ask Tasha, she’s died twice,
so far. But at her worst, she often
felt her best. Crawling
through trenches, phasers
set to kill. A clear target
in the muck. Even her daughter, defying
genetics with her mother’s
blonde bob, disappointed
Picard in every single way.
Armor and purpose. Family legacy.
But here’s a secret
that Tasha never told anyone:
Her death fantasy (and we all
have one) was to expire by the pool
on a holiday planet, opal sunset.
No phasers or fighting,
not that it matters, she knows
that now. Death brings
clarity far beyond
your pool day, and this time,
she slips through colored panels,
indigo and reds, the fire-pink
of cherry blossoms, and into the deep
and changing sea.
Shanti Weiland’s book, Cracked Planet, is forthcoming from Negative Capability Press. Her first book, Sister Nun, was the 2015 winner of the Negative Capability Press Book Competition, judged by Amy King. She is currently writing a book of poems about Star Trek: The Next Generation; authors the blog, The Poets That You Meet; and hosts the web corner, Online Enlightenment.
