She Who Would Not

By Karen Schnurstein

Untitled Poem
“You broke the cage and flew.”
–Rumi

We weighed her body
down with sand
bags, heavy
as all of our combined
earthly burdens.

And yet she floated.
She would not
sink to the bottom
of the pond.

We watched with shock
through the cat tails
ripe with clouds
of fuzz.

Then she who would not
sink forgave us
and we walked home
in fresh darkness.

Karen is in remission from severe mental illness and is currently learning how to thrive while dealing with PTSD. She finally faced her bisexuality and came out of the closet shortly after the Orlando shooting. Karen holds a B.A. in English with Creative Writing emphasis and World Literature minor from Western Michigan University. She transcribes and edits live transcription for closed captioning for the deaf.