maelynslavik

Oh Earth, in your embrace we thrive,
Your soil, your sky, keep us alive.
You gift us trees and rivers wide,
With oceans deep and mountains high.

My grandmother never cut flowers with scissors, raised her nonexistent eyebrows plucked beyond all veins of recognition, blinked one eye fishlike & said a knife was all she needed.

We'll march with cardboard signs

rainbow letters pretend

that we're happier than we are 

because we understand

the depth of this hole we've dug ourselves

into

the fire we've fed 

As girls we’re taught many things at a young age. 

We’re taught what’s considered “ladylike,” and what’s not, 

Keeping us in line to better fit society's mold.

I hold my prefrontal cortex with the shame of

sinking, water lilies seeping from my lips into the grey-green

marsh I call (uselessly) 

home.

My mind hisses with the strain of too many canned-up voices

saying

…