she said,
i feel as though
i’ve lost touch with
that chunk of my life—
those twelve years that once were,
but now no longer are.
i can’t remember any of it.
i can’t… nothing at all.
i said,
can you give flesh to
that emptiness?
she said,
i can’t.
i don’t know how.
i said,
what do you feel
inside yourself?
she said,
i feel nothing.
i feel numb.
i said,
shut your eyes and
go inside yourself.
she said,
i feel shallow. dry.
hollow as a drum.
i said,
where do you feel that?
she said,
right here. between
my rib and my heart.
i said,
what is the emotion
inside what you’re feeling?
she said,
loneliness. sadness.
despair.
pick one,
i said.
she said,
i feel fear.
make space for it,
i said,
and let it be.
she said,
i feel shame.
i said,
make space…
she said,
i feel anger.
i said,
make space…
aaaaah…,
she said,
i feel free.
i said,
the mind will forget.
the spirit will forget.
but the body will always remember.
