I have read that it takes the white cedar tree over a century
to grow just four inches tall
And that some of the oldest trees may grow the slowest
Redwoods and evergreens, gnarled and twisted
from a stunted age but still they grow
You must understand, when you are desperate
and alone and wondering how something you
need
can take so long
Or that perhaps your trunk is an ugly thing of mutilated wood and limbs that hang too tangled
These things take time
I know you are tired now
I know you want to tear yourself apart
sometimes
I know you look at bullets like
exit signs
and plan your own grave like
some people plan weddings
I know you take on the days
like walking into oncoming traffic
(because I do too)
and I won't tell you that everything
is gonna be alright
because I still lock myself into
bathroom stalls just to remind myself
how to breathe
but I have read that
it takes centuries for water to cut through stone
and even longer for things like the Grand Canyon
to have been made whole
or mountains to crack the earth's surface like giving birth
these are unbelievable, startling
magnificent things
and the earth aches too
burned and stolen and strangled slowly but still it grows
even when it can't breathe or is torn open wide and robbed
it fights back
because it isn't dead yet, and
neither are you
so listen,
it will take a while, and it's going to be
hard but
you have to let your bark and vines grow and
your stones carve and mountains rise
because
You are not done yet
YOU ARE READING
Dysphoria
Poetry"I dreamt I grew roots and sunk into deep earth, Where mud became my skin and dampened grains freckled my surface, I opened my mouth wide for the sprouting branches Leaf-speckled limbs And sunflowers blossomed from my eyes, Sunlight bled in waves, w...
