I did not consider the fact

That for the rest of your life you would only get older

If I’d been thinking, I would have held in my hand

A fistful of seagrass. I would have rubbed the edges back to raw

And cut myself open carefully

I would have folded back my skin slowly, following

The natural crease of my body. I would have treated myself

Like I do the sheets fresh from the wash or hung

Out on the line to dry in the sun bleached

Of the bleeding but still smelling of it

Until I was at last exposed my whole

Body inside out

When they cut you free I knew

For the first time how we are never the same again

You were born aching and hungry

You were born asking the world to hear you

You were born and I was inside out

Every part of me laid on my chest and you

A screaming crown you a

Heart outside my heart and the world

Upon you

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