{"id":1653,"date":"2015-01-30T06:00:14","date_gmt":"2015-01-30T11:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/?p=1653"},"modified":"2015-01-16T14:18:26","modified_gmt":"2015-01-16T19:18:26","slug":"a-poem-about-self-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2015\/01\/a-poem-about-self-love.html","title":{"rendered":"A Poem about Self Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Karen Clothier<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After\u00a0Octavio Paz<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

after chopping off all the arms that reached out to me;
\nafter boarding up all the windows and doors;<\/p>\n

after filling all the pits with poisoned water;
\nafter building my house on the rock of no,
\ninaccessible to flattery and fear;<\/p>\n

after cutting off my tongue and eating it;
\nafter hurling handfuls of silence
\nand monosyllable of scorn at my loves;<\/p>\n

after forgetting my name;
\nand the name of my birthplace;
\nand the name of my race;<\/p>\n

after judging and sentencing myself
\nto perpetual waiting,
\nand perpetual loneliness, I heard
\nagainst the stones of my dungeon of syllogisms,<\/p>\n

the humid, tender, insistent
\nonset of spring.<\/p>\n

Of course, we can only find love once we love ourselves, so to me whether you are partnered or not, Self-love is the most worthy of causes. This poem poignantly describes my journey through Perimenopause for the last 10 years, as my demons have been thrust face-to-face with me, forcing me to tenderly start learning to love myself. It paints in blunt detail that which I didn\u2019t dare to see before now, the hurts caused to myself and others by my own lack of self-love. With this awareness has come great tenderness and compassion for myself and my loved ones, for all those hurts we inflict on each other, many of them unwittingly.\u00a0So if you\u2019ve ever been told and bought into the story that Self-love is a selfish pursuit, this poem should set things straight.\u00a0So much of the hurt in the world is unconsciously caused by the absence of self-love.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* ***
\nDonna Henes is the author of The Queen of My Self: Stepping into Sovereignty in Midlife<\/em>.<\/a> She offers counseling and upbeat, practical and ceremonial guidance for individual women and groups who want to enjoy the fruits of an enriching, influential, purposeful, passionate, and powerful maturity. Consult the MIDLIFE MIDWIFE\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n

The Queen welcomes questions concerning all issues of interest to women in their mature years. Send your inquiries to thequeenofmyself@aol.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Karen Clothier   After\u00a0Octavio Paz   after chopping off all the arms that reached out to me; after boarding up all the windows and doors; after filling all the pits with poisoned water; after building my house on the rock of no, inaccessible to flattery and fear; after cutting off my tongue and eating…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":218,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[103,13,43,68],"class_list":["post-1653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-self-esteem","tag-compassion","tag-holistic-living","tag-self-esteem-2","tag-self-love"],"yoast_head":"\nA Poem about Self Love - The Queen of My Self<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2015\/01\/a-poem-about-self-love.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Poem about Self Love - The Queen of My Self\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Karen Clothier   After\u00a0Octavio Paz   after chopping off all the arms that reached out to me; 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