to The gIrl You've Always been

Remember what the soil tastes like. 

Memorise it.

Know what it feels like to be buried,

To be silenced, to be shunned.

When you rise out of the ground,

Rise brave, wise, and strong.

Rise with humanity still in your heart. 

Be grateful you don’t understand why she did this to you.

When you see blackened arms,

Find water and rise.

See how pure you remain underneath it, what the darkness could not take.

Pick up the shovel, pat down your resting place.

Remember it with fondness, it was your rite of passage.

Place flowers on the grave you no longer lie beneath. 

Walk away, and smile.

For this is your becoming.