Big Enough to Hold it All

A love poem to my body, and reminder to be in it

My body is eyes
Softly aching
From behind
Longing for rest

Eyes taking in with wonder
The setting or rising sun
The stillness of a deer in the woods
The vivid blooms of flowers

My body is clavicle
Strut between shoulders
Mobile until not
Sharp pain holding in place

Clavicle and sinew
Overtaxed at times
Stretching more than it should
While also strong in unexpected ways

My body is lungs
Grounding me here
When I pay attention
To the pause between the breathe

Lungs expanding under ribs
Sending oxygen racing
Through a stream running
Top to bottom as I dance

My body is kidneys
Sour and necessary
A selfless organ
To gift another

Kidneys and other dark
Squishy organs
Clustered together in a
Perfect fit, the engine of my body

My body is stomach
Hollow when hungry
Loudest when I rest
Digesting nourishment

Stomach that extends when full of food
And collapses when flooded with anxiety
Thwarted by a constricting throat
But usually insatiable and always grazing

My body is hands
Palms brought together
In gratitude and greeting
In blessing and ceremony

Hands that ache in the cold
Popping joints to release tension
Or fingers entwined with yours
until they go numb

My body is heart
Electricity generator
Dropping extra beats
An anchor more reliable than the breathe

Heart, spread open
and bursting
Big enough
to hold it all

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This poem came out of one of many classes taken with the incredibly skillful and encouraging Anastacia-Reneé.