Ep. 4: Podcasts, Poetry, and Pretty Chains

Today’s episode has a different mood. I recorded it late at night in a more contemplative space. I share with you two poems I’ve written in the last few years. The first called “new yarn” is a love letter to motherhood and to the theater. The second one “pretty” talks about how as women we can both crave and feel trapped by attention about our looks. I hope you find meaning in them, and perhaps they inspire you to write a poem yourself today! I attached the text below. Until next time, take good care. ~~~~~~~~~ New yarn Now a mother I have been unraveled and knit back together My child's sweet essence In every strand I cannot undo this mother I have become (Nor would I want to) And with this new yarn Where our beating hearts combine I stitch together stories on stage I create wife and mother again and again I cannot help but love these families I create For my child's beating heart Is woven into their being My heart stretches until it contains this too A new husband A new child A new mother They all live in a safe sheltered place within me So my arms stretch wider my heart beats stronger And my family grows larger As I give birth to each new story Pretty Please do not tell me I am pretty As much as I may want to hear it As much as you want to see me smile and blush And feel complete It will not last It is a glass of salt water in the desert Please do not tell me I am pretty For I will no longer chase the fantasy which will never complete me And the thrill I feel When you say that word Makes me run faster To catch its ghost Do not tell me I am pretty For I am wise And fierce And whole Do not tie me in pretty chains