To My Hardest Days \\ Olivia Hazelton

To My Hardest Days

Olivia Hazelton

Watch me catch the bird in my hands without killing her Watch me lull her to sleep without any of your words sung over my head I will sing my own lullaby, until she is still Nested away from you and the rest of things

Watch me be so gentle Watch me brush the fears off of her feathers And whisper quiet hopes into bones not yet settled I will care for her like a mother does a grieving child Like a love that has nowhere else to go

When she chokes on the shame you put in her throat Watch me grab fistfuls of air for her to swallow Watch me breathe every kindness I know into her So that when she finally spits up her lump of truth She will know I am listening

Watch me fight for her Watch me confess to any hand that is offered to me That sometimes I cannot hold her by myself I will do the brave thing over and over again I will spill myself open if it means keeping her alive I will keep screaming angry and beautiful things into this world Until by God, it brings her home