Poetry: Zara Browne

Zara Browne
Your Soul

Don’t give me your clothed soul
that smiles on demand, 
or lowers its voice, in fear of being too loud.
I want your raw, naked soul.

I want to reach out and touch it,
and know that it’s real.
So raw that I can feel every chip and crack
as I trace your lips with mine.

I want the soul that breaks when words are too much.
The soul that jumps and sings.
The smile that reaches the eyes.
Stripped of every disguise it’s ever known.
***


Our Battlefield of Roses

Oh Father, I could not cross this border today.
I did what you’ve taught me through the years.
Prepared my words in their chamber; ready to fire,
and fought for what I believed in.
I stood tall for my country and me. 
‘Ich liebe dich!’  I called out to you with all my heart,

But being miles apart, across the border
my words only fell upon ears 
tuned to Radio Libertaire.
You echoed my words:
‘Je t'aime!’
Perhaps with love, I didn’t know.
For it has always been
a language that I have never understood,
a language I’ve never spoken.
A language that has belonged to you, never me.
And so, with our bullets in hand
we take our artillery with us.
Back-to-back, we walk away, heads held high
we depart, leaving this battlefield for now.
*** 



Bio: Zara Browne, who lives in Ireland, is a 21-year-old student attending South East Technological University in Waterford. She has loved reading and authoring stories from a very young age. In recent years, she has turned to poetry. Poetry slowly became a passion for her, alongside her avid reading, love for playing the piano and public speaking. Music is her most used writing tool behind her poetry. 

In 2019 she came second in the National INOTE (Irish National Organisation for Teachers of English) poetry competition with her poem Courageous Woman and was awarded a cash prize alongside the publication of her poem in the INOTE magazine that year.

Zara has also collected poetry collections from poets she aspires to and follows on social media.

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