I want to give this half-familiar self

everything: a firm mattress for their

bad back, their favourite chocolate

cookie, too many greasy takeaways

because they aren’t perfect but they

already know this & that knowledge

is making them sick the way a dog

that thinks it deserves punishment

will try to make its body so small it

disappears so as not to be noticed

until one day someone reaches out

& gently invites them to trust that

a voice can be as soft as a light rain

in springtime just as the full moon

in Leo & some early miracle arrives