Elise Skidmore

I want to write a story
but I think I've forgotten how.
It's been such a long time
and no new ideas are 
dancing in my brain, 
trying to get my attention.
Everyone's heard about 
Peter and the Wolf,
and no one wants another
Princess rescued by true love tale. 
There are no characters 
crying out for me to tell their story.
Once there were children
making friends in the rain.
There were erudite vampires
who played guardian angel,
and a might-be crazy woman
who had visits from the devil. 
I remember the widowed father who
created a garden to heal his daughter's heart,
and a woman facing mid-life crisis
finding hope with a mime. 
There was love, loss, and locusts
on a 19th century prairie,
and four generations of women
who shared a wedding dress.
They're all gone now.
I need someone to tap me on the shoulder,
or maybe whisper in my ear,
that they have a story 
that only I can put on paper for them.
But so far everyone's been silent.
Perhaps they're afraid 
that I won't do their story justice. 
Or maybe, like me, they're hiding 
from a world that's gone mad. 
I miss them.
I will sit quietly and hope
that the voices will sing again soon.

~Elise Skidmore ©2021