My Undoing
Revised for Poetry Reading at Elkins Park Library,
Wednesday, November 16th, 2022
by Radiance Angelina Petro
I do not want to be reborn.
My birth is still happening–for the rest of my life—
I will be being born.
My life is an unfolding, unburdening,
a blessed untangling, a sacred unveiling, gradual
unloosening, gentle unhusking, tender unlacing,
slow unraveling—an unceasing, uncensored, unrestrainable
joy. My thoughts are unclouded, my needs
unarguable, my light unshaded, my spirit
unharmed, untasted, unleashed. My life
unbreakable, untwisting, uncoiling. My desires
unbuttoning, unclothing, unconditionally mine,
unequivocally, wonderful, and exquisitely unquenchable.
My passion unabridged, my shame unlearned
with moments of bliss unhurried, unlocked, unshuttered, and rising.
I unlatch the fence around the garden
and my playfulness rambles unbridled,
uncivilized, uncalibrated, unjudged.
The reasons for my being worthy
are mine and mine alone—beautiful, because I say so.
They are undebatable, undeniable, and clear. My voice
unedited, undistorted, my brow unfurrowed, my stomach
unknotted, my wildness undomesticated, unlabeled,
untamed, and untamable–feared by many. My wants
unencumbered, unfaded, unfallen, and fucking
legit, and fucking mine, and there is time to feel
and unfeel, form and unform, freeze and unfreeze.
My ways are unfamiliar, unfettered, unforced,
unforgettable. My sleep finally uninterrupted.
My creativity unbound, unlimited by anything
anyone says or does–my cries unmuffled, my faith
unmovable, my rage unmuzzled, my fears
unneeded, my hours of solitude gladly unnumbered,
memories uncrowded with ghosts, the love
of myself unending, unserious, unshakable,
unseparated. My cities of wonder, of purpose,
of possibilities—unshelled, unobliterated. My wheels
unstuck, and the road unblocked. I unsew, unstitch,
the fabric of pain so to feel so to mend so to create
a shawl of wings. My legs steady, my stance strong.
My innocence untainted, untarnished, unstolen—reclaimed.
My life the gift of a life unlived lived now–I am
my world—unyielding, unstoppable, and gloriously undone.