My Body Is Wise: A Poem

I bleed, I release.

I let go,

no resistance.

My body is wise.

My body is strong.

My body is soft.

My body knows.

She holds me.

Carries me through,

the winds, the rains,

the storms and the sunshine.

She feels warmth and cold,

pain and pleasure,

sun and moon.

There, through it all,

my body is beautiful.

I have learned to listen,

for her calls of pain,

for her tingles of pleasure,

for her whispers of yes,

for her rages and yelps,

the signs of no–

this is not for me / for you / for now.

Her cycles come when expected.

She is reliable.

She is mysterious.

We are both still learning to be here,

learning from one another,

learning to listen,

to trust,

to be present and whole.

Yearning for softness,

for strength,

for movement,

and times of stillness.

Practicing each day,

the cycle of tension and release.

Practicing always,

this cycle of life.

Looking, listening,

for each new change.

Watching, waiting,

for each release of the old.

I bleed, I release,

I learn to let go,

I learn to embrace.

-Kelly Ann Street