And Then the Timeline Overlaps
i.
thirteen / sage advice to avoid thorny patches /
playing in mud fields / believing true love sprouts /
in between rough edges / palm tree sway /
conversations about hips / conversations about
catching up / they say / my body is rejecting becoming
a woman / having not yet bled
ii.
seventeen / wondering what it means /
to be made aware of / pieces of me /
shuddering / shamed / at the age of seven
iii.
twenty-one / being alone is heaven /
breathing again / in the absence of men /
women told me of wolves / I believed
them / I didn’t know / I was being beaten /
eaten / that my petals were muddied /
my knees / bloodied / I carried sin /
in my school bag / my secrets in
scrawled crayon / the truth / hidden from all /
in freshly stapled skin / I had a razor /
etching names / within
iv.
twenty-eight / little fish / can’t swim /
still gutted / splayed by familiar eyes /
small bones jutted / against /
adult sized jeans / being afraid /
that I was hurting him / the dust beneath /
him / scattered / shattered / for nearly
a decade / I couldn’t find me /
I still roam / collecting glass shards
of myself / keeping my fractured
heart on a shelf / echoes of crying /
ring from the closet / I hear them /
when I try sleeping / I pretend /
they don’t sound like me
Note: I posted a few lines from these on my Twitter & finished polishing up the whole piece for today’s post. This one has been the hardest to write so far this month, but I’m really glad it turned out how I wanted it to.
Thistle Thoughts 