ingredients
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find something beautiful & pull it from your ribs
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a photo of your own front teeth
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the wood from former babies’ cribs.
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pull your hair but just the tips
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& tug
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twice the length of your frequent fever trips
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rip the page that swims with favorite words
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wet your tongue and purse your lips
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tilt your head and call the birds.
directions
I. take your special pockets and your trinkets both in stride, peek around the corner, run to where you hide
II. spot your stack of memories, torn and black and blue, nurse them back to health until they might resemble you
III. lift the photos to the light and let the fire seep inside, nibbling at the edges and prickling where they died
IV. pick your pieces wisely, the game you play is life, & know where you are going will reek of hope and strife
V. not one of us will live for peace or see the day be done, but some of us can run & leap & end up in the sun
VI. to make a life you wait and wait and only when you’re through, then you look back at all you’ve done & your life looks back at you.