Three Poems

By Debbie Cutler

PROMPT — Who am I today?

Overcoming

I dance

not because I can

but because my heart sings

despite the stumbles

broken steps

behind me

Love Languages

My daughters are at war

with each other

because they speak

different love languages.

“Invite me over”

doesn’t translate

to “you’re welcome anytime.”

One needs concrete, precision

the other fluidity of time and space

each loves the other

but they can’t show it

in ways that meet both

needs

so they fight with words

and lack of words

getting nowhere

Friendship

Mary and I

talk into the night

sip dessert wine

from Alaska

dance to the throb

of country blues

or rap

listen to each other

hearts open

with every beat of

conversation

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Debbie Cutler wrote these three poems in less than 20 minutes one cold December morning in 2021. A writer of more than 30 years, she has been published in numerous mainstream and literary magazines, including Cirque literary magazine, Wingless Dreamer, The Dewdrop, Pure Slush, Shanti Arts (Still Point Arts Quarterly), Sweetycat Press, Prime, Columbia Business Times, Editor and Publisher, Independent Living, among others. She currently works at the University of Missouri, writing for seven departments in the College of Arts and Science. Debbie lives in Columbia, MO.