the heel press

if I were my mother’s voice

I’d praise her as the goddess of self-less love

but ache to reincarnate her soul as the goddess of self-ful love

‘cause I want her to know that she deserves a love with a fuller self

not the love of self-sacrifice, the love of confidence

not the love that curls under bruises only to find its healing reason off some booze

not the love that eats self-respect but the love that feeds self-belief

if I were my mother’s voice

I’d praise her as the goddess of relentless love

not the love rooted in children as the only reason for being

not the love she wears as a medal of sacrifice, a “crown of thorns” unhappiness

not the love indulging in self-reproach, pampered in self-pity and spoiled by self-punishment

not the love of a grappling self-defense and grueling self-denial but the love of assertion

if I were my mother’s voice

I’d praise her as the goddess of charitable love

not the love of monetarymaterialistic belongings but the love of primaryspiritualistic longings to be

not that love,

this love,

if I were my mother’s voice

I’d praise her as the goddess of this love

this love elegant in self-esteem, graceful in self-assurance, and glowing in self-reliance

this love that paints her plump with adoration

this love she wears as a medal of self-pride, a crowned charm of happiness

only this love, Mother, that celebrates the brilliance

of you

with me.

speak up