Made of wire
covered by plasticine
she moves through the world
with awkward grace.
For decades, inside the sturdy sculpture
sits the child; head down, hands wrapped around her knees
she begins to awaken.
The scar tissue that solidly formed
and held her in place
weakens and gives way.
Lifting her head
she unfurls her arms from her knees
and sees that translucent butterfly wings
have taken the place of limbs
that atrophied long ago.
On wobbly legs, the child stands
and breaks all but one of the sinewy tendrils that were holding her down.
Moving to the edge of the wire
she calls and gently flaps her wings
capturing the attention of the figure
made of wire.
Plasticine arms instintively
touch the spot where the dormant child
lived in dark solitude.
Both fear, and confusion begin to emanate
off the plastic arms and beautiful wings.
A sense of hope further weakens the wire
fueling the possibility of
wholeness, worthiness, and love.
Can the two become one?
Can the wire and plastic melt
into the flesh of humanness?
The child held down by that
last remaining chain
quietly sighs.
But, something has changed
There is a shift
and both the fearless child butterfly
and the awkwardly graceful plasticine adult
know that it is only a matter of time
before they are transformed and become one.
Like a phoenix, they will sit upon their tiger
let the hot sun melt away even more of yesterday’s pain
and live harmoniously, seamlessly, together as one.
©Alexis Rose, image source: Pixabay
Thank you for reading my books: If I Could Tell You How It Feels, and Untangled, A Story of Resilience, Courage, and Triumph
Thank you, Jina! 🙂
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loved it. It’s full of metaphors that give you pause and make you think.
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Thank You! ❤️
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So much emotion. These images brought tears to my eyes. this is so beautiful and so descriptive…
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My pleasure. Stay warm.
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Thank You!!
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Thank you! ❤️ that means a lot that you get it. Thank You!
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This was gorgeous.
But let me tell you…she was always a beautiful butterfly.
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Lovely!
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Thank You 💕💕
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Thank You! 💐
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This is a beautiful poem, Alexis.
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Reblogged this on jennessjordan and commented:
This is beautiful
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Me too!
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You are more than welcome! This was an amazing poem with SO much emotion! Plus, I absolutely LOVE butterflies!!!
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Thank you, Nicole 💐
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Reblogged this on Art by Nicole Corrado and commented:
Making peace with one’s past.
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Thank you, Alyssa. Big hugs to you!! 💕
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WOW Alexis, this was so amazing and beautiful. Your talent is admirable and something that should always be appreciated! Keep up the great work and thank you so much for sharing this incredible poem!
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Thank you, Brigid ❤️💐
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Such a beautiful metamorphosis Alexis. Worth reading over and over…
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As always, beautiful insight. Thank you!
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We are the only ones who can offer those loving arms that our younger selves needed that we never had the chance of having as we were younger, and, we will, learn to embrace all of our selves, especially the scars, because that’s what made us into who we currently are…
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Thank you my friend. Im trying to find some tenderness towards her. 💕
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i loved reading of this metamorphosis, it seems so complete and empowering, you write that dormant child with much tenderness
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I like dioramas. Haven’t made one since I was a kid.
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Absolutely! I totally get this, just the tactile and three-demential aspect of clay. I used to make dioramas with clay to help me process my trauma memories.
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I think you touch on that tension between the private and the public. When we go “public” with our art then we need to curate it and it needs to be a certain “standard,” even though it is still self-expression. When we’re “amateur” then it’s unedited self-expression. It’s raw but I think there’s value in it. I’m definitely kindergarten about clay but it helps me to express myself in a way I otherwise wouldn’t.
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I like clay too. But there again I have kindergarten skills, well maybe preschool skills if Im being honest. But I do love the feel of clay.
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Thank You!! Wow, I really like that insight. I love the warm cocoon image. 💕
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Yeah I’m not great at drawing so I try and write my feelings out. Some people do a collage but I haven’t tried that yet. I do also like working with clay.
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Ohhhh, I love that visual. Thank You! Its kind of how I was feeling. I thought about trying to draw it but knew I didn’t have the skills to get across what I wanted to say in picture.
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This feels so delicate, so fragile…it’s brought together with such poignancy when the wire and plastic join, like the child is being supported as if being wrapped in a warm cocoon. Beautifully written and really intriguing xx
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This poem makes me think of people as living sculptures, art come to life.
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