Body Language #morningcoffeesessions

I’m at it again because it feels so good to put writing first. Over the weekend, I wrote, but not first thing…and I could feel the difference in my energy. Thank you  Firefly Creative Writing family for offering another week of this bliss!

Chris read a poem by Joy Harjo called Eagle Poem. I had the distinct pleasure of seeing and hearing Joy read her poetry one year at Bookfest Windsor. She was phenomenal – joining a drum and song to her words.

And so…we were prompted to connect to a word or words from the poem…the words ‘other languages’ spoke loudest to me.

Body Language

my toes are small unspreadable
speaking the language of staying together
my legs speak the language of restlessness
lengthening in stiffened stretches
as I lay in bed searching for the entrance
to adventurous sleep
knee language is capped
cracking during times of improper bending
and oh! the language of my thighs is strength
muscles evoked by work weight wonderment
these hips don’t lie – gyrating the language of pleasure
inflammation and patience is the language of my guts
twisty and tethered we’ve been through a lot
my belly speaks the loudest – rumbles and rages
the language of comfort
these ribs speak boney protection
these lungs speak spongey steadiness
these breasts speak babies
speak sustenance
speak heavy
speak cancer
speak survivor
my neck speaks remember-to-look-around
my throat speaks respond-not-react or it
tightens and can’t speak at all
my chins speak remember-to-love-myself
(but so quietly I can barely hear it)
and all the parts of my face speak
the language of learning
pay attention
inhale
see deeper
bite down
my ears speak itchy curiosity
my lips speak I-want-to-French-kiss
my arms speak flail and embrace
my hands speak I-Am-Writer

all language is born in my soul
curly contagious conspicuous
expressed through my heart
whole broken mended scarred
love the most important verb
conjugated
consummated
lifts my tongue
in ecstatic
joy and pain

How are you feeling? My emotions are still acting like a young butterfly – flitting all over the place, looking for a place to land and catch my breath. To assess my journey. Figure out a plan.

As talk of isolation rules shifting begin, I’m feeling a whole new set of fears…concerns. How do I go back to how things were? Do I want to? What will happen if I change things? What has this different experience of living done to my mind, my body, my goals? Have I changed on a foundational level? Will Spring finally come and stay?! When we all start to go back into our cities – the stores, the restaurants, the parks…will we wear masks? Gloves? How long will it take to trust that the virus is gone? Can it really go away? Will trips to Hawaii be super cheap because my heart is reaching for it? Why?

My mind never stops wondering and wandering…writing helps me focus. Work helps me focus….but I also always an emotional butterfly. I cry every day – happy tears, laughter tears, scared tears. You too?

Be kind. Be joyful. You are loved.