What my shoulders said & why I listened
I’m done carrying all this weight, they said
It’s too heavy, they continued
The world, its death, its fear, its weather –
We’re letting go of it all, they said.
Neck, they said,
You work so hard to hold up the head
But the head needs a rest, they said
Let us help with spine and hips and legs –
We’re healing horizontal, they said.
Heart, they cooed,
We’re pulling you out and placing you
On the wall to witness – that’s all
Observe and report to your own beat, they said
The love we’ll carry as it is perfectly feathered
They said.
But soul, they said, listen here
We’re facing north to conjure lights
That wound the sky like messages, they said
Messages we need to decipher
Together, they said.
We’re facing east, they said
To nod at the Far as it speaks
In shrugs and embraces, they said.
We’re facing south, they said
to catch the solstice on our blades
We’re making wings so when
Heart wants to fly, she can, they said.
We’re facing west, they said
Because that is where you went
When you were nineteen, they said
You changed your life that summer
Courage lives there, they said.
And then they were quiet.
I listened.
I listened because they were right.
VANESSA SHIELDS, writer 