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