“If you want to be given everything, give everything up” — Tao Te Ching

God, I give you my divorce

my bookshelf my view

of the horizon dividing

the sky into now

and then I give you my

tongue so willing to sing

and my belly a brick wall,

story cemented in.

God, let me strip

the cotton the dentist

packs between

gums and cheek.

I want to feel it all.

Please free my thighs

from the weight

of my opinion.

Let the bed hold me

as a cup receives tea.

Steep deep into my womb

until released.

Send my many selves

up in steam.

Sage Cohen is the author of the poetry collection Like the Heart, the World from Queen of Wands Press and the nonfiction books Fierce on the Page, Writing the Life Poetic, and The Productive Writer, all from Writer’s Digest Books. She guides poets and writers at sagecohen.com.