by: Kate scholl
This thing has three parts;
Three will be returned thrice more
One, two,
Three times…
There is the before time:
the boyhood, the uncertain masculinity, the obliviousness
The now time:
the girlhood, the transition, the finally finally figuring it out, the contentedness
And the then time:
the woman I will be, the knowing altogether who I am, the victory
There is the me who is becoming her
The her who always was me
And the me who is more me than ever before
My transition is stepping through flame and letting it remove
the pieces that aren’t me,
That they should boil off, that it should cauterize my pain, that it should leave me a reborn
Phoenix to take flight
In girlhood with painting my nails,
with learning to take care of my hair and my skin
In girlhood with exploring my body, finding my place in the world
In girlhood finding out that boys can be gross and men can be worse
Three will return three times three: nine
Who knows nine, I know nine. Nine months precede childbirth.
Tishah mi yodea, tishah ani yodea. Tishah yarchai leidah.
Three sides of a triangle, three vertices, points of contention
A triangle and a star, and six
Reclaimed with pride
And another symbol, mars and venus,
male and female, and a third:
both and neither
Three spokes on a wheel, turning, spinning, winding
Up better and better
Once, twice, three times a lady
And there she is:
Me