Freeze, Burn, Thaw
i. FREEZE
Winter was never harsh,
because her toasty chill only tickled your skin,
and her embrace warmed your bones,
chasing away the frost bite of crusted tears
so that rosebuds could bloom in their place.
And it’s no surprise that you never knew,
that her smile was carved into place.
That she allowed herself to burn
So that you could know what it’s like to feel warm.
ii. BURN
Fire was never meant to love tender.
Its touch is never gentle.
Its trail leaves scorch marks in its wake,
and casts angry shadows like strangers in the room,
leering at you because you’re perfect, but flawed.
Half weapon, but too human.
A fire with no flame.
iii. THAW
Some days, you hate yourself.
You’re half your mother, but also half of him/ and you hate him enough
to hate the parts of him that are in you / So your winters were always harsh,
a refuge from the infinite drought/ left by his brutal summers.
Until one day, you finally rubbed the frost from your eyes
and realised/ that you were never half-anything to begin with.
That the barren land between a snowstorm and a wildfire is not your birthright.
Overhead, the sky has started to clear/ frozen joints thawed/ and snapping into place.
Finally, you know who you truly are.
You are whole.
___
Poem that I did for the @mha-mindful zine
