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Poetry & Art

What If I Told You

What if I told you

 

Those marks of motherhood

were ribbons of silver and sweet plum

 

That your layers and folds

were waves to smooth the sand

 

What if I told you 

 

Those lines by your eyes

are a love letter to how far you’ve come

 

That your hair reminds the world

of wildflowers 

 

What if I told you: your body 

doesn’t hold your heart, your worth, 

your unfolding

 

What if I told you 

 

That the shore cannot contain 

the ocean 

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by Emily Patterson

Emily Patterson is a writer and editor in Columbus, Ohio. She studied English and Music at Ohio Wesleyan University, where she graduated summa cum laude and received the F.L. Hunt Prize for most promising student in creative writing. Emily is currently pursuing an M.A. in Literature for Children and Young Adults at Ohio State University. Emily's work has been published in Spry Literary Journal, catheXis Northwest Press, Harness Magazine Issue III: Poetry & Motherhood, Eunoia Review, Pinkley Press, and elsewhere. Emily is currently writing her first chapbook of poems and a novel-in-verse for middle readers. She works as an editor for an educational publisher located in Columbus.

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