Edited: She sat at the back ...

 

The Mud Maid sculpture, representing a sleeping woman.

Located in The Lost Gardens of Heligan, in Cornwall, in the Southwest of England.

The artists are brother and sister Sue and Pete Hill.

"She sat at the back

and they said she was shy,

she led from the front

and they hated her pride.

They asked her advice

and then questioned

her guidance.

They branded her loud

then were shocked by her

silence.

When she shared no ambition

they said it was sad

so she told them her dreams

and they said she was mad.

They told her they'd listen

then covered their ears

and gave her a hug

whilst they laughed at her

fears.

And she listened to all of it

thinking she should

be the girl they told her to be

best as she could.

But one day she asked

what was best for herself

instead of trying to please

everyone else.

So she walked to the forest

and stood with the trees,

she heard the wind whisper

and dance with the leaves.

And she spoke to the willow,

the elm and the pine

and she told them what

she'd been told,

time after time.

She told them she never

felt nearly enough

she was either too little,

or far, far too much.

Too loud or too quiet,

too fierce or too weak,

too wise or too foolish,

too bold, or too meek.

Then she found a small clearing

surrounded by firs

and she stopped and she heard

what the trees said to her.

And she sat there for hours

not wanting to leave -

for the forest said nothing,

it just let her breathe."

Becky Hemsley, Breathe

Edited to add:  I am absolutely fine, I just LOVE poetry and this one resonated so deeply with me.  

As girls and women we are so often told that we are this or we are that, and are led to believe that we are who they say we are.  When we find our voice, our feet or our freedom and break away to be ourselves, there are almost always those who would try and cram us back into the original mould.  The sooner we learn to break that mould, the sooner we are ourselves.  I broke mine many years ago.

The trees know the truth. 🌳

Sue xx