room for alteration
“Maintenance systems are direct feedback systems with little room for alteration.” — Mierle Laderman Ukele
i’m starting
a detox
& i have
a lot
of feelings
about it
even tho
i want to
(to lower
my stress
to heal
my body
& to feel
more at ease)
because
being large
i am
more than
a little
skeptical
& tired
of trying
for health
in a world
that blames
while
engineering
feedback
loops of
addiction
pollution
& chronic
stress
but i’m trying
again
this time
to create
a new kind of
feedback loop
that will
nourish me
& keep
me strong
whether it
changes my
waist-to-hip
ratio
or not
there’s got
to be
some room
for alteration
in what
i will
& will not
do for myself
perhaps that
is enough
to make space
for new
ways of
loving
whatever it
feels like
This piece is one in a series, On the Essential Maintenance of Daily Life, a poetic collaboration for National Poetry Writing Month (#NaPoWriMo) by Samantha Wallen and Michelle Puckett. To read the previous poem in the series, click here.
Michelle Puckett, MFA is a poet, doula, permaculturalist, coach and Co-Founder of Creating Freedom Movements, a social justice school for activists. All of her work aims to nourish the sacred and make it plain in every day life.
