CASSANDRA CROSSING - POEMS

Cassandra Crossing immigrated to the US from Europe and now resides in the Chicagoland area. Poetry and writing have been her life-long dream. She writes from personal experience about love, despair, loss, and hope. Her work includes short stories, creative non-fiction essays, flash fiction, plays, and poetry. She’s also working on a few novels and novellas.

You can find some of Cassandra’s work on her website: ccrossing888.wixsite.com/cassandra and on Patreon: www.patreon.com/CassandraCrossing. 


Her poetry has been published by the Illinois State Poetry Society (ISPS) on their website, and her creative nonfiction essay “Why Are You Here?” won Runner Up status in a contest by WOW! Women on writing and was published online in 2019. An interview with Cassandra by WOW was published on January 5th, 2020, in their blog, The Muffin: https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com


Another nonfiction essay "Sorrow" (2019) and her flash fictions “Allure” (2017), "The Scent of White Chrysanthemums" (2019), "The Cabin" (2019) were chosen as finalists at contests by WOW! Women on Writing. Cassandra’s creative nonfiction essay “Things That Matter,” her fiction “Parenting Advice,” and plays “The Chair” and "Three Tickets for the Show" had been selected by Oakton Community College to represent them in the annual Skyway Competitions in recent years.

​Life Worth Living

Myriad reasons to go on,
        yet hopeless in tears
               to die for
 
Ready to leave,
       nothing to take,
            just the broken heart of
           her twenty turbulent years
 
Her pain unnoticed,
her body abused and exploited,
her mind dulled,
and her dreams barred
 
She’s much too young,
but there’s no way out, and
nothing to gain in each new day
Shame and guilt too heavy to bear
 
The last goodbye placed neatly on the table,
the bottle nearly empty,
her hands shake
One more pill to swallow
One more night of sorrow,
then there will be peace
 
Cold sweat and nightmares pulling her down deep,
she’s frightened by the darkness,
feeling the claws of death near
With her fleeting breath, she whispers, “This is not peace,”
asking God to forgive her,
she fights to get on her feet
 
Walking in the garden
she trembles, pale, and weak
Resonating light surrounds her among flowers and trees,
and purple crocus blooms at her feet
The beauty of nature cradles her as she frailly breathes,
her soul filling with a newborn ray of hope clothed in the spring breeze
She prays to God for her life to keep
 
She vows to always remember,
no pain is too great
         If God grants her wish,
even in immense grief,
she’ll forever declare:
              Life worth living
 

 

​A Sonnet to My First Daughter
(Shakespearean sonnet)

​You would’ve turned twenty-eight now,
If only I was strong and brave.
Would’ve kept you if I knew how,
My great regret until the grave.
 
If I had a place to flee to,
A safe haven, a quiet inn,
Break free of evil that men do,
I wish I found the strength within.
 
A reminder of sinful act,
You were conceived in shame of rape,
I did not focus on that fact,
But from him there was no escape.
 
You would be my first born daughter,
Instead you were led to slaughter.
 

 

​​Broken

 
Flesh wounds of forgotten promises
And the looks in their eyes as they condemn
“Three children from three fathers,”
All they think of
In their minds, she’s forever banned
 
Vows have been broken,
They deemed it as her fault from the start
She yearns for acceptance,
But no one cares,
They don’t get that she conceals a broken heart
 
Alone and abandoned, in a new land,
They can’t see beyond the accent
To them, she’s a foreigner,
But to the Lord,
She’s on a mission, by Him she’s been sent
 
Her past is for someone’s future,
Her life has a great meaning, which she understands
Many will be encouraged
And lifted up
By the example for which she lovingly stands
 
The children are gifts and blessed,
The joy she feels—to take away, no one can
She knows what matters,
And God sees
In her, forgiveness blossoms for all three men
 
So what really matters, and should you listen?
The questions for you still stand
Help mend a broken heart?
Or give up
And watch her fight without you till the end?
 
It’s love we’ll take to heaven, so
Be assured of her love beyond the grave
You can be the one
To keep a promise,
Just love her back and as always,
for yours and her sake
be brave

​Rag-Doll

In the past
            like a rag-doll
    I was torn inside
 
                                                       On my lips, a kiss of frostbite
 
       Soft and malleable,
             smothered and subdued
                   by intense obscure clouds
 
     Wanting the loneliness to end
          I needed to hold on and
                                         keep my broken parts together
                     until I found my strength in letting go,
      asking God to embrace me
 
Then I learned
       that through letting the pieces
 
                                                                          fall
I could find my soul
and walk the path of light