Past Meets Present

The heavy glass is shattered now

I spilled juice on the floor

The little girl is panicking

She knows there will be a war

💔

I stand within the doorway’s frame

A woman carved of oak

I tell her that the mess is fine

Before a word is spoke

❤️‍🔥

"They’ll hate me if I make a sound"

The child whispers low

She swallows down her every need

So love can finally grow

💔

"I say 'no' without a thought"

The mother answers back

"I do not bend to keep the peace

Or cut them any slack"

❤️‍🔥

Eleven now, the girl is counting

calories like beads

She hates the curves, her thighs and hips

She denies her bodies needs

💔

I touch the skin across my ribs

Where silver rivers run

This body carried three whole lives

Two daughters, and a son

❤️‍🔥

The blade was sharp, the sting was fresh

Red ribbons on her wrist

Only nine, as she cuts the pain away

With a small and trembling fist

💔

I look at the scars, healed over now

A map of war and grace

I fought as cancer came to take it all

and refused to give it space

❤️‍🔥

"They say I have an attitude

All I do is complain

I try so hard to be so sweet

Hiding thoughts inside my brain"

💔

"Let them call it what they will"

The woman says with pride

"A boundary is a precious thing

You don't have to hide"

❤️‍🔥

The sequence breaks, the clocks spin back

The ending comes too fast

The child sees the woman’s strength

She is free at last

❤️‍🩹

The woman holds the broken child

Inside a warm embrace

The effect has come before the cause

To find a resting place

💝