One Body
from Out With Lanterns
I need to be reminded that I was given one body to look after, that I must tend to it like it’s a rare plant or beloved pet. I must feed it well, strengthen it. I need to be reminded as I’ve been too long punishing, hating, denying, overdoing. Or, I was born female. I need to be reminded how year eleven or twelve, after hearing so much talk of bodies, of good versus bad, desirable versus disgusting, I divorced head from belly, leg, crotch, foot, heart, lung. I need to be reminded that the way back is like this: Consider the seed, how it needs water, sun, nutrients, how it consumes, how it takes what it needs then swells before it blossoms.
