The Bones of Who We Are: Hero

This quotation inspires the poem Gabe gives Abby in Swimming Sideways

This quotation hits me in the heart every time. Oh, the context weaved around it; the struggle with self-identity, the importance of people in our lives (who we believe) who tell us we CAN. This is the moment that inspired the poem Gabe gave Abby for her birthday in Swimming Sideways:

Head-hanging garden

Watered with poison

And crowned with shame.

Offer the tempting fruit with

A fertilizing word like “hero”,

And change the vantage to a mountain top.

The garden below is sick.

Your smile: the antidote.

Remove the crown and

Prune the head from the poisonous vine.

-by Gabe

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