Necessary skills for young women by Poppy Jennings (Lucent Dreaming Issue 6)

teach me to cross, blanket, slip
the shackles of society,
to pedal, tread, needle prick
and guide me to unpick,

thread, stitch, sew the fabric
of my soul—the torn canvas,
colourless and slipping at the seams
giving way to tattered screams

pull and pierce jagged edges
loop the forward-back-forward-back—
reverse the damage? hide the damage
because now I can manage

the patriarchy and collect
broken, bruised, battered memories,
a sequence of bright crosses
to mark the unlit losses

Browse issue 6 in full.
Lucent Dreaming is an independent creative writing magazine publishing beautiful, imaginative and surreal short stories, poetry and artwork from emerging authors and artists worldwide. Our aim is to encourage creativity and to help writers reach publication! Subscribe to Lucent Dreaming now, support us on Patreon and follow us on TwitterFacebook and Instagram

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