Spaces of grey
who taught us— stay a little girl or at least a young woman try to recapture what was for who
Erin Browning
Erin is writer and artist working in mixed media. She owns a business treating clients with myofunctional disorders & recently put roots in Melrose, MA following a life rearranging. Throughout grief, as a widow, she leaned into complete presence, to explore creativity, joy, love & appreciation of her middle aged body, mind & soul looking past societal expectations and norms.www.evolved-therapy.com
grey scattered
through penny hued hair
the pattern arrives
for a framed face
wrinkles resultant
of lies I endured too long
and better—the laughs bellowed
once I recovered
from the man-boy who made me cry
one too many times
the dye
the shots between the eyebrows
cover it up
erase
the depth come to surface
who taught us—
stay a little girl
or at least a young woman
try to recapture what was
for who—
Them
You
make him look
make him stay
make her envy you
make them smile
make the mirror of everything wrong with them go away when they look at perfect you
hold your breath
you don’t know what’s coming next
from her
and the poison
tones me down
puts a thin barrier
between
my expression
and the world
its effects are fleeting
same as the unruly curls
fighting like hell to break free
same as my insides
but i am supposed to go back
to that numb version
over and over
smooth yourself
so you’ll please who—
Them
You
frozen me is difficult to embrace
hard to love
you’d like real me better too
Have a story you'd like to share? Submit your story.
