I
who have often hid in the midst of noise
Laughter
Turning aside the more penetrating gaze
With a wall of clever words
I
Who thought the cocoon only produced butterflies
Turns out
Phoenix and dragons
Rise on wings of silence
from jagged tooth wombs

And the birth means annihilation

To the bearer

She died

I was born

And now I wear the scars that tore her asunder

But also the strength and wonder

Of a woman

Who had the courage

To plunge

Into a river that looked like life

And emerge

With her own drowned self cradled in her arms

A version so young

To young to understand

The greed and evil

That God made human

So she blamed herself

Instead

As we often do

And now we sit

This small girl and I

In a cathedral built

Of a thousand sighs

With stain-glass windows

And bombed out pews

We sit

And for the first time the small one feels peace

For the woman who couldn’t meet

Herself

On any plane

Has found the way

To love herself again

Cross outstretched ankles

In scuffed leather boots

And settle down

Nestle in sideways

If it feels more comfortable to move

But never cease the relentless search

For the one within who never had

You

When she needed you the most

So she grew you like a tree

From the ground up

Enfolded in branches she sees

Her entire life spread out

And sunshine brightens the green shoots

New life

Peaking through

The younger you

Should always be just a hands stretch away

Never leave her behind again

Instead

Love her deeply