Be You
Life has Twist and Turns
Valleys and Peaks that Teach Us
we Know our own Truth~
Accepting that Truth
Being Authentic in It
Allows Others Too~
A woman picks up shells, contained
Discarding the broken, the stained
Nothing for her can be marred
So too in life, we discard
The broken, the blemished, the stained
And all those who won’t be contained
We seek out the pure
Who hold some allure
Of a perfection that can’t be attained
Pick up now the soul-fractured shell
And listen to the stories it tells
Of waves and of wind
Of brushes with fins
And mysteries of sand and of swell
What I hear from self-professed allies that makes me feel like a beautiful stone, picked up at the lakeshore, and shoved into a dirty shoebox in the basement so you can call yourself a crystal girlie.
What would be so healing to hear that my soul would feel like a cool stream flowing past wildflowers and the survival celebration of songbirds.
Lord, son, your back hurts?
Must’ve pulled it lugging around
Down through the mines day in and
Day out.
Well, we got real good news for you!
Over at Purdue, they got something brand new
To take all that pain away.
Ain’t even gonna cost you all that much, neither.
Just pay a visit on down to your doctor,
The one you’ve been seeing since you was
A tyke;
Tell him about the back pain and he’ll give you
A prescription,
Just like that,
In and out real quick like all the rest of his patients
Day in
And day out.
The pill’s gonna go down nice and easy,
Then you ain’t gonna feel a thing.
Relief like you never known it before.
You’ll be mighty glad you got your hands
On some Oxy!
Why, Sarah’s cousin up the holler’ll pay you real good money
For just a pill or two.
His whole paycheck for a portion of your
Prescription –
Cause that’s how good them pills are.
Why don’tcha go on back and get a refill
Just in case?
Trust me, son,
Once you get going on these bad babies,
Y’ain’t gonna ever wanna run out.
I’m a doll-house medic.
Two half brain lobe split fractured separated + the strawberry jam tastes like it did ______ summers ago- I know technically we don’t know each other yet but it still tastes like the back of your neck might. You are a massive and snarling and beautiful beast. Or maybe I am- will be. Might be sometimes. Anyway, it’s too hot for anything but toast and diluted pink lemonade, and I can’t hear anything you’re saying from across the room like that- it’s like being inside a dream, trying to warn or plead or something but your feet won’t move and your throat is swelling shut. Are you at all familiar with that feeling?
Nature’s Gazette:
that relative with too many plants
and music your parents don’t listen to
who is rarely at the family gatherings
but always sends you love on your birthday
that relative that they call “different” or “troubled”
with a multi-colored flag and a weird, earthy smell at their house
who seems to speak in fortune cookie, declaring
it takes courage to be yourself and
you can always come to me when you’re scared
that relative with eclectic hobbies
like collaging and beadwork and making jambalaya
who has pets that live indoors but
caretakes the creatures who live in the trees
i find that i am accidentally that estranged, weird aunt
because i was also that observant, curious, isolated kid
who needed a relative like me, a model to show
that you can be who you are someday and still survive it
