Taylor White Exaltation to the Body

Exaltation to the Body Taylor White

The body is a pleasant thing Soft mountains of sweet grass moving over the sharp boney rocks The pitch and yaw of the back, muscles restrict and retract Oh, we honor the body, we thank the body for its strength It moves us through life, the landscape nurturing us

Strong tree trunked thighs and sinewy legs that glide into delicate, delicious ankles Long arms that turn into nimble fingers- they heal, they feed, they create, they nurture Delicate neck that disappears into broad shoulders, to carry our burdens and our dreams, Cascading down into tender breasts, the slope and sway The ribcage to protect the beating heart, pumping blood into the farthest corners of our body The beating heart feels, we peel back the skin and bone to experience every emotion We praise our body for the function, the courage to keep up breathing - beating

You have done nothing wrong; you give, fully and freely, your entire being to us And yet we punish you We look in a mirror and we do not see the wounds as tales of survival But rather we see the failuresscars and moles and dimples and lumps We do not see them as stories of battles won, but of ugliness Feeling sick of the sight of you –

Body we beg forgiveness - we honor you; we praise you You do not fail us, but we have failed you