I have lost track

of how many ages

I have been trying to make peace

between the

east and the west

the

north and south

the belly and the back -

of Me.

Breast to chest

thigh to thigh

I have tried to live in the

holy sweet-spot between

each sigh.

But no matter which way I sliced it or diced it

the loudest arrangement of sounds that persisted

insisted that i

was: ‘Not. Good. Enough’.

So I took all the warring

parts of me

down to the sea

and well ~

you can imagine the rest…

.

I slipped out of my well-worn skins

and dipped headlong into

of another version

of existence that had no name

for anything

that could be classified as

“Me”.

There, with starfish hands

and seaweed tresses

something ancient began

to tug at the seams

of all the stories I’d been taught to believe

about myself ~

where every inch of pain

was rooted in someone else’s shame.

A story with no audience -

is no story at all.

So I opened wide to the great divide

allowing fish sharks and whales

to swim right through me

as wave after wave of sea

spilled out of my eyes

and I knew I could stay there forever.

But then, a

roaring from my core;

a voice i could not ignore

‘Listen’! it said.

‘The world it trying to smile itself through you’.

So I kissed my Oceanic Lover

fully, like never before

and swam hard back to the shore

ready to embrace this one

precious life-chance I had been given

committed to ending all inner division.

I am East

I am West

I am Flesh

I am Breath

and

I AM FORGIVEN.

©Liat Lev Oct 2024