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By Maddie Raymond
Part One: Dry Leaves This is an exercise In holding your head up high Walk down a dirt road Any will do But they’re best up north In autumn Most importantly, Ignore your white shoes They don’t get dirty, darling I promise If they do, you won’t care That’s the whole point of the exercise Smile You’re alone You know you want to Face east You’re doing this in the middle of the day Let the sun touch you Sing along to your music No one’s around Breathe In Out Smell the leaves The dirt You’re a part of that Let the crown of your head align with the sky You’re a part of that too You’re born from this earth You live here So, my darling Use this exercise Practice holding your head up high You deserve to be here Part Two: Lavender Soap This is an exercise In remembering who you are Take a shower Make sure the water is hot Darling, you deserve comfort Tip your head back Close your eyes Pretend you’re standing in the rain Think back While the water pounds on your scalp Who were you Before all of this Watch the drops dribble off your fingertips Until they start to prune You’re a clean slate now, darling Take that memory of the real you Lather it on like lavender soap It’ll hang around you for days, now Trust me Step out the way you really want to But be careful not to slip You’ll probably need a bathmat for the first few tries If it doesn’t work the first time Darling, don’t despair Sometimes it takes a few showers To be born anew Part Three: Scented Candles (preferably red) This is an exercise In being here Stay up late Everything is softer at night And existence has so many jagged edges Remind yourself you’re real It’s nice and easy, darling In the velvety dark Light a candle Preferably red And smelling of something warm You have nothing to prove here Breathe in the scent Let the warmth reach your palms Your heart No matter what you’ve done, darling You’re still allowed to have this Wrap yourself in blankets Hug your pillows tight enough to remember them When the light of day makes you start to fade Have faith, darling That you are solid Part Four: Two Glasses of Water This is an exercise In picking up the pieces Don’t be ashamed, darling We all fall apart sometimes Find someone This is a partner exercise, darling I know you’re ready Pour two glasses of water Sip Swallow It’ll help, with the rawness of your throat And your heart Tell them something about yourself Something they don’t know Let the stillness of the room And the water Keep you focused Like baby chicks lose their down And the trees shed their leaves We all have to expel parts of ourselves sometimes Now, I know this part is scary, darling But let that person take those parts And put them somewhere safe Sometimes it takes more than just us alone To be made whole again Part Five: Imperfect Camera (it just has to take pictures) This is an exercise In being the center of attention Pick your head up, darling I know what you’re capable of Stand in front of a mirror The bigger, the better If there’s natural light, use it You’re allowed to smile during the day, you know Take out a camera It doesn’t have to be a good one It just has to take pictures Snap a photo Another Again Keep them all Even when your leg looks off Or your hair flies in your face Notice the sparkle in your eyes It’s working, darling Pose in the way You’ve always wanted to But never let yourself You’re hot Desirable Even if in this moment The only person who is aware of that Is you. Maddie Raymond is 16 years old and lives in Goshen. Through writing, she has gotten to explore new perspectives, discovering things about herself along the way. What she loves most about writing is getting to experience something other than the day-to-day. Her favorite part about Woven Word has been the friends she’s made within the local writing community. Comments are closed.
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