Take My Body

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Daughter

Take my body

Learn its topography and memorize every mark.

There is historical data there.

Anoint my head

You will find the memories of my mother and her mother and her mother stretch into infinity.

Do not look away when you see how each of us birthed the same traumas over and over.

Unbraid my hair

Take the seeds that I have kept close to my scalp for you.

Plant them for sustenance so that your days may be long.

Daughter

Take my body

Trace the stretch marks from breast, hip, and thigh.

This is proof that life shrinks and expands according to your will.

Wash my feet

Wrap me in linen and love.

Send me away with praise songs when the sun sits high.

And when all is done

Learn your own precious body.

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