Ceramic Mugs

I am from ceramic mugs, from workboots, quilts, and gunmental glitter nails.

I am from dirt roads off of dirt roads, no stoplights, hunter orange, and a fifth season.

I am from spearmint in soil, outreaching growth, crushed, common, and resilient.

I am from a tradition of healers and uprooted trees, from Buzzard and the Holmins, from closed-in-emotion and fearful care.

From “you’re so smart”, and “you could do more”.

I’m from infant baptism and earth magic.

I’m from houses that know how to take care of dogs, Christmas steamed pudding, and garden salsa.

From the worn barstools of Stonewall, from hidden medication and unspoken chronic illness.

I carry these tenuous stories in my body + bones, waiting for written wills to unbox the past, revealing tenderness and choices made to move away.

(created at ARC’s Theopoetics 2018 Conference, as part of the Engaging Arts as Faithful Practice cohort)