danielle salerno
Queen of Peace
Ave Regina Pacis / a woman
who is done with your shit
has lost her patience
who commands / doesn’t ask
earned every star on that radiant crown
nurtures the squirming child in Her arm
while the other demands
the acquiescence of nations
the way only a Queen could
chin high / tits up / no shrinking flower
Our Lady of the Rose / petal and thorn
Peaceful does not mean demure
Peace takes sweat equity / takes grit
the kind mothers know / deep in their DNA
the weight of labor She shouldn’t have
to wield so well but does anyway
because someone fucking has to
Compassion and rage can coexist
in a woman’s heart / the true feminine alchemy
that has the power to end wars
reaches out Her hand
through centuries / across oceans to demand
better of us / full-throated
Who are we to turn away?
Ave Regina Pacis
ore pro nobis
Danielle Salerno is a poetess and Jersey Girl currently sweltering in Southwest Florida. Her work has been featured in The Tongue is Sharp: An Anthology of Feminine Rage and Scenes of a Better World Zine, and is forthcoming in the inaugural issue of Prudence Dispatch and the Roots and Ruin 2025 Anthology by Arcana Poetry Press. When her nose is not firmly planted in her notebook, she can be found singing with the Fort Myers Mastersingers and chasing her loved ones around with a Tarot deck.