Today seems like a good day for a poem. I hope you enjoy it.

“I want these things written on my body. We are the real countries.” –Katherine Clifford, The English Patient.

“I Want These Things Written on My Body”

Rolling curves, peaks and hills
Valleys, dips, rivers and seas
We are the real countries.
Curve of abdomen, peak of breast
Dip of waist, seas pooled in eyes
I am a country.
I want these things written on my body:
My love, my passion
That must protect those beloved.
My fear, my anger
Slow erosions of my soul.
Legend and myth well up from within
Artesian springs from imagination.
Life giving power pulsing deep within
A cave of great mystery, the womb.
I want these things written on my body:
That I loved and laughed,
But I also mourned and wept.
My anger led me to hate,
But grace led me to forgive.
That I longed for one to share my life with,
But I found contentment in solitude.
That although my womb would never conceive,
I brought forth and protected life.
Wave of hair, paths of the mind
Plain of the back, roll of the hip
I am a country.
Plains, plateaus and waterfalls
Rocky ledges, cliffs and springs
We are the real countries.

© 2005 Shawna Renee Bound