a previously posted poem & a recent response from my sister

committed to composure
ducts dry
super glue if i have to

connected to the divine
eyes focused
following the line
of ethereal thread

mending the cardiectomy

softened to reason
exhaling the shapes
not suited for this frame

staggering decisiveness-
pointed beauty
surfaces as revelation

reflections of wiser women
replace me
suggestions of wiser words
arrest me

slowed to stillpoint
smeared lines clear
refining the essence
of rehearsed conversations

smeared lines clear-
conscious
of the heart as nucleus
of the soul

my sister's response:

"i think the damage done to us as children - as young women - as women - wreaks such silent havoc that we must rage against a wicked fate of ever doubting ourselves, against a hollow doom of ever fearing a black, evasive, unseen horror. and maybe we never fully win the battle, but we can hold our ground, even gain some as we push back and stake claim to ourselves.

i see your piece is about accepting the close of a relationship with just one man, but the past has a way of corrupting our sense of self beyond a single relationship, of muddying what should be clear and simple. i wish you the strength to let yourself go. to go and do and breathe and live beyond ______ and beyond any past that makes letting go seem too scary, too hard, too much."