Hello,
In honor of March being Women’s History Month, I’ve gone back to my roots (pun intended?–see below and you decide).
Years ago–okay, more like decades–I wrote poetry. Sometimes life inspired me, and that manifested in verse. With great humility and vulnerability, here is a poem I’ve recently written for all of the women (and men) out there who are “my forest” and for all of the women (and men) out there who feel like they, too, are not a bonsai.
I Am Not a Bonsai
You mistook my diminutive stature
believing my height was my limit.
It never was,
and neither are you.
You tried to groom me.
You tried to prune me.
You tried to cut me down to size.
You failed.
You thought you planted the seed.
You thought you nurtured the earth.
You were wrong.
You soiled the soil, and
for good measure,
wanted to choke the roots.
But I was never a bonsai.
I didn’t need your instruments of cutting.
I am fully formed and magnificent, and
I cannot be hurt by you.
From the forest of trees
I have learned—
growth cannot be cut away,
strength is not bound by size.
Light does not shrink another’s shadow;
it multiplies.
Your problem is that
you are small in every way,
and you felt dwarfed by my ascent.
So, you did what you could
to try and make me go away.
But I am a massive sequoia.
With the forest I thrive.
We can weather a storm.
Our roots are deep.
Our reach is vast.
You’ve been misinformed.
I know what you didn’t:
Trees are larger
than the lumberjack or the shears.
You can never make me small.
I am not a bonsai.
~Heather
P.S. I love Dove’s commitment to representing real women and encouraging girls to love their bodies. They are champions of women and their 2025 Super Bowl ad that encourages female athletes is my Catch of the Week. #KeepHerConfident.
P.P.S. Please remember to...
Like and share this post
Check out other posts
Subscribe to www.lyonsletters.com
Buy and rate your copy of Engagement is Not Unicorn (It's a Narwhal),
From Amazon or Barnes & Noble
Comments