Symbolism of a Past Life

Beulah Vega

blooming rosemary 

and dehydrated violets

grow amongst deer bones

a young doe seduced 

by valerian and snapdragon

scented boars

disguised as stags

ponds salinate

as Freya weeps

swans can no longer

live in these hemlock 

and willow haunted woods

where no sweet water flows

rue and sage are lost

from the desiccated world

only rosemary blooms

evergreen

only the deer bones

and the crows remain

to feast on its fragrance.

Beulah Vega is a writer, poet, and overworked theatrical artist living and working in California’s Bay Area. Her poetry has been published in The Literary Nest, Sage Cigarettes, Walled Women, and Blood & Bourbon among others. She is still amazed when people refer to her as a writer, every time.