flowers for my younger self

response poem to emory hall's "i have been a thousand different women"

i have been a thousand different women

by emory hall

make peace
with all the women
you once were.

lay flowers
at their feet.

offer them incense
and honey
and forgiveness.

honor them
and give them
your silence.

listen.

bless them
and let them be.

for they are the bones
of the temple
you sit in now.

for they are
the rivers
of wisdom
leading you toward
the sea.

self portrait by kenzi meyer

flowers for my younger self

by kenzi meyer

i am making peace 
with all the women 
i once was

i lay flowers at the
feet of my thirteen year old self
for her loneliness--carnations
for her pain--chamomile
for her kool-aid dyed hair--scissors
for her nights--solace

i offer my seventeen year old self
incense (for her stubborness)
and honey (for her shame)
and forgiveness.
fountains of forgiveness that
wash over her
that baptize her in 
sun-soaked self love

she is not responsible for 
the adults who failed her

i honor my eight year old self
i give her my silence

i listen

i bless my fifteen year old self
and i let her be

for my four year old self
holds the bones 
of the temple
i sit in now

my eight year old self--
her joy and gentleness 
form the rivers of wisdom
that lead me to the sea