Ashleigh Rae Staton

Poem II

She said Your body is a monument Your soul is a gift. Be sure to honor the miracles that made you. And to those who snuff out the light of others, try to make the shine singular, they have forgotten our time together in the heavens. They don’t feel stardust shaking from their skin. Here’s another truth. One must rip the lies from the root, and anyone who questions the connection between the heavens and the soil has forgotten, somewhere between shining for shining sake and here. Sometimes, when searching for truth in the pages you’ve inherited It helps to rip each in turn/form a perfect square/fold it corner to corner crease to crease edge to edge. Make the shape sacred then, maybe, you’ll find yourself reflected. She said crease by crease make direct paths to the stars. We are all light planted on the earth. Our bodies are monuments and our souls are a gift. Be sure your mouth and your hands pay homage. For a time, if you’re blessed, you’ll be mothered purposefully At some point, sometimes sooner than you want, you will have to continue the work yourself. Be sure your mouth and your hands pay homage. Be sure your mouth and your hands pay homage. We are light in the shadows. Yearning in a low murmur a song to our previous form. We hum together, like electricity choked by resistance reaching back toward home. Our souls try to sing each other there. Your soul is a gift. Your soul is a reminder. We hum to the heavens, a low burning hymn, like the crashing of tides. The folding of waves, crease by crease, create a vast, deep darkness. And, she said that is the truth. Do not fear the dark, for darkness like earth, like ocean depth, like womb, like the vastness of space. That is where life begins.