A Spell to Break Your Chains

______

After Alexis Pauline Gumbs

I.

Dig through the cool soil,

Tear your nails on rock and wood,

Make a place for yourself beneath the roots.

Rest. Keep what you find there.

II.

Throw off the shrouds

Others have placed on your shoulders.

Feel the breeze on your skin

Let the gusts move you.

III.

Make peace with the sea and sky,

As dark, wild, and unknown as you.

Plunge into their depths,

And release the need to be found.

IV.

Speak freely, drink deeply.

Unravel the cutting binds

And float, untethered.

Reclaim who you were

Before others told you

Who you were not.

R