Today’s episode has a different mood. I recorded it late at night in a more contemplative space. I share with you two poems I’ve written in the last few years. The first called “new yarn” is a love letter to motherhood and to the theater. The second one “pretty” talks about how as women we can both crave and feel trapped by attention about our looks. I hope you find meaning in them, and perhaps they inspire you to write a poem yourself today! I attached the text below.

Until next time, take good care.
~~~~~~~~~
New yarn

Now a mother
I have been unraveled
and knit back together
My child's sweet essence
In every strand
I cannot undo this mother I have become
(Nor would I want to)

And with this new yarn
Where our beating hearts combine
I stitch together stories on stage
I create wife and mother
again and again
I cannot help but love
these families I create
For my child's beating heart
Is woven into their being

My heart stretches
until it contains this too
A new husband
A new child
A new mother
They all live
in a safe sheltered place
within me

So my arms stretch wider
my heart beats stronger
And my family grows larger
As I give birth to each new story

Pretty
Please do not tell me
I am pretty
As much as I may want
to hear it
As much as you want to see me smile and blush
And feel complete
It will not last
It is a glass of salt water
in the desert

Please do not tell me
I am pretty
For I will no longer
chase the fantasy
which will never complete me
And the thrill I feel
When you say that word
Makes me run faster
To catch its ghost

Do not tell me
I am pretty
For I am wise
And fierce
And whole
Do not tie me
in pretty chains