No one can find the rewind button, girl, so just cradle your head in your hands

her neck opens
on a hinge
and a blue butterfly
breaks free from its prison
of skin and muscle,
sinew, and bone
Her possibility flees towards the outside world
to lead us all
to that secret place called wanting.
A guiltless wanting
to know all of life,
to swallow it up
and let it hold me
open inside,
so the rest of me will breathe.

I dreamed of Africa
and woke up crying,
my ears held fast
by unspeakable tragedy
and privilege
both unearned, un-asked for.
Orleanna Wharton
walks forward
out of the jungle
and the world shifts.
One more scar for survival,
one more footprint,
one more "truth"...................................................continued.