stems twine around my fingers, all shades of light green. i will them to grow. so delicate these flowers,one wrong move and i would rip their spines in two. iris tilts her head up to meet me and i hand her a basket made of living flowers.
i want my hands to be for healing, for living. i want to use my hands to keep her safe. my hands which have been sanctified in the warm blood of deer, which have stretched hides to make her clothes, which have blessed poultices to help her, to help them all, heal.
in the beginning, this is not enough. armfuls of flowers cannot shield her from vengeful men, the blood of deer cannot bring her back to life, and poultices cannot extinguish flames.
to live i must tear, not mend. i must create shadowed spaces where men are too afraid to venture. being alive is not enough.
this time, stems embroider their way through my veins, my life for the life of the forest. my life’s blood for the vitality, the safety, of them all.
witch in training no more...