A Good Little Girls Zine

True North

I lie horizontal
eyes fixed on the blinding sun,
sparks of needly pain spread across my scalp,
they follow the pathways of my nerves

And remember:
The night I became a matrix of nerves,

not body,
not muscle,
not even skin

in this sharp wiry sting,
Whilst breathing, (never have I understood lamaze breathing more)
In, out, in, out, in to calm, out to relieve,
Calm, relieve, calm, relieve
Here in the throbbing spindles that run like tiny branches up my hairline,
I find that I am alive, actually

I close my eyes, go inward to beckon her,
She’s a tigress who comes through every time and I need her now the most,

As I rock, pace, breath, to live in the stabbing, slicing pain–
Out of nowhere, she roars,
I roar, grunt loudly

It is here in the darkness, in the pacing
That I see my true north: a live oak, she’s full
Full of long, sturdy branches, a trunk that has withstood many windstorms and this

This is just one more, she reminds me, just one more.

This one leaves a mark, one I will run my fingers over for many years to come

One which will remind me daily of my fighting tigress, my outer oak,
My true north.

angel-oak-tree-2009-louis-dallara
Photo by Louis Dallara
Picture of Sonia Chintha

Sonia Chintha

Sonia Chintha is an Indian American writer who lives in the Washington DC area. She blogs, writes poetry, and fiction. She is also an English teacher who believes that our experiences teach us more than any test. She is the founder and co-editor of Good Little Girls.

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