Bearded Lady

By Lisa Bellamy

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Like Minuteman missiles hidden for decades in a Montana silo,
            three bristles thrust, in post-menopausal explosions,
through my chin—I never knew the bearded man within.
            Come out, come out, Mr. Man, come out. I need a partner,
a running buddy; I need back-up, against citizens-turned-
            barbarians—soon, I imagine, they will pick up pitchforks,
begin to chase Earth's dear children. I need a burly man,
            a flannel-shirted, fix-it man; a man who will floor his pick-up,
outrun the new shock troopers; a man who knows drill bits,
            chain saws, hammers; but a gentle man who stops for fawns;
a man who will drive hunted families north, to the border;
            a righteous man who discerns the signs of the times;
a man who dreams of the giant bear Arctodus for protection;
            a man who will put on battle vest, camo, flak jacket,
to defend our woods; a man who, with me, pledges to protect the meek.

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Lisa Bellamy studied with Philip Schultz at The Writers Studio, where she teaches. She is the author of The Northway and Nectar, and has received two Pushcart Prizes and a Fugue Poetry Prize. Her poem "Yoho" appeared in the United Nations Network on Migration's 2022 climate change exhibition. Bellamy graduated from Princeton and lives in New Jersey and the Adirondack Park. See lisabellamypoet.com.

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