Although the change in seasons means many animals are going into hibernation and trees are losing their leaves, the approaching end of year can also be a time for personal growth ahead of the new year. This month’s showcase explores ‘growth’, intertwining the natural and human words in poems by Esther Kearney and Lauren Winson.
The Girl with Roots
She sways in the wind
Emerald eyes, bark for skin
She pollinates with a swing
In her step
Then she pirouettes
But she can only go so far
Her long limbs
Rooted to the spot
Her arms languid
And flowering
Strive towards the sunshine
That yolk coloured orb
Before silver brushstrokes
Mar that cerulean canvas.
A single
Early morning dew drop
Runs down her face
And the rainstorm begins.
Esther Kearney
Beauty as Blemishes
Cloaking our bodies in shame,
a second skin stretched across
each crevice, tied up in a knot
where hearts beat a hidden pulse
through veins, cross-crossed rivers
writhing upon this map of ourselves,
a landscape changing with every
Inhale
Exhale.
Breathe.
Watch ribs swell and bloom,
protruding petals that you call weeds,
plucking, prodding and shaving away,
as if you could reach the roots,
this lifelong battle against the nature bursting out of your pores,
you’re
alive
breathing
beautiful
you can heal, those scars
are flowers upon your skin, growing
a garden of strawberry seed scabs and mountain ridges
rising from scraped away skin,
unceasing regeneration after all
you’ve been through.
Lauren Winson
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Featured image courtesy of Tahira Rowe. Article image 1 courtesy of János Csongor Kerekes via Flickr. Article image 2 courtesy of jodage via Flickr.
