Silence 

Breathe slowly,
Surely,
Struggling to comfort the wounded.

Faces streaked with rapid rivers twisting,
Tormented,
Tremendous in honesty.

Breathe slowly,
Shortened,
Somehow acknowledging the heavy air.

The loveliest sacrifice lies broken,
Blanketed,
Budding still in elegance.

Breathe slowly,
Softly,
Securely into unforgotten silence.

Mirroring

She clenched her teeth,
Swallowing droplets of blood
From the imprint she bit into
Her shivering lip.

The drops beat with the robotic
Pulse of the blurred machines
That desperately grasped his limbs.
Mystified.
Terrified.

She wondered how he’d
Ever been able to see her
Like this.

To engage in purposeful
Pretend.
To hold her as she toppled,
Receding into lifelessness.

She glanced at him,
His stare still fixed on hers.
Weakened.
Waiting.

Her sockets strained
With burning eyes,
She enveloped his delicate hand
Carefully in hers.

Her heart pinched,
Strained,
Stopped,
As she felt his gingerly beating.

She swallowed the burning.
Blood.
Doubt.

And smiled, as he
Always had at her.

Minden Hultstrom is a Duluthian with a penchant for the arts.  She has a Bachelor of Science in Theatre Directing from the University of Wisconsin, Superior and a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education, Teaching Literature and Communicating Arts from the University of Minnesota, Duluth.  When she is not teaching, Minden is immersed in theatre.  She has been involved in over 65 local productions as a director, actor, and choreographer, recently directing 9 Parts of Desire, Evil Dead: The Musical, and American Buffalo.  Minden has several poems published, both in The Roaring Muse, the University of Minnesota, Duluth’s literary magazine, and in Epilogues, a collection of writings by people affected by epilepsy.  She will be presenting her poem “In the Blizzard” at the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota’s 2011 Conference.  Minden also has an acrylic painting, “Duality,” currently touring in the Brainstorms Art Collection.