Zippered Self

POEMZOELAB 365
Written By Zoë Dearborn

ZOELAB DAY 356

Date of Original Post:  August 22, 2013

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To return is to begin again.

Sorting out the selves, 

In holdable piles.

 

I try them all on at once.

They fit, sort of.

But then again, it’s too many selves to know.

 

Removing them, I start from scratch.

This is the place to begin again.

In between two worlds.

The large culture and the small.

Both, with their imposing language of distraction,

knock me down.

 

But there is more than that,

there is this thing I am doing, 

something radical and secret and quiet

something so very mine,

that I dare not say it.

 

Identity is a flimsy and beautiful thing.

It is a symbol suit to wear for others.

I try it on and zip it up.

 

Not ready yet for meaning,

I lie down, 

ready to receive the rain.

 

After all, I have a body that speaks to me

inside

with messages that reach beyond cultures.

 

The body knows more than the

flimsy zippered self.

 

Zoë Dearborn

Zoë Dearborn is here to inspire humans to fulfill our deepest potential and highest purpose through her philosophy that combines spirituality, psychology, the arts & education, using her original songs, classes, essays, videos, dance, events, poems, talks & stories. She holds an MA in Counseling Psychology & Expressive Arts Therapy from California Institute of Integral Studies and a BA in Studio Art and East Asian Studies from Oberlin College. She spent her first thirty years in Brooklyn, and now lives off the grid, in the desert, with her husband and seven year old son in Southern Baja, Mexico.

http://www.zoedearborn.net/
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