Pandemic Poem #35 / I’m Welcome

I’ve been doing one-on-one sessions with Ellen Clarke and just last week started my fourth round of RISE – Online Speaker Training with Fleassy Malay. So I’ve been doing a lot of self-analysis and self-care.

One big gem is this provocation: “How can what you are doing right now be a gift to your future self?” That shift in perspective makes even doing the most boring chores seem worthwhile.

And of course, from all this deep thinking comes poetry.


⁠I’m Welcome
This is a gift to the future me⁠
So she can physically climb a mountain as easily as I do metaphorically⁠
So she can marvel at the power in her legs⁠
The freedom in her hips⁠
The strength of her two feet⁠
And how they match now the power of her mind,⁠
The freedom of her tongue⁠
The strength of her will⁠
She can be complete in her body and her body is her tool again⁠
So she has evidence of being loved⁠
Loved by me, which is the the very least she deserves⁠
And anyone else loving her should do much more⁠
So she can pluck love as easily as a ripe apple from a tree⁠
She is Eve⁠
And this is the first time she can say she really feels like a woman⁠
In that dress that fits again⁠
So she loves her own reflection⁠
And recognises the woman there as herself⁠
So she can rest a while knowing⁠
she can feed our children with the touch of button⁠
And on yet another long day she has a helper,⁠
A help-meet, a wife⁠
Her past self has got it, babe⁠
I got you babe,⁠
I got myself.⁠
You’re welcome.⁠
I’m welcome.⁠

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