Julia Stickrod

my mind is a magnifying glass
that fixes on the need to fix
the crooked objects,
the uneven bedspread,
the clutter of it all

while i search for a handle
reaching deep inside this cavern
like extracting pumpkin pulp,
i attempt to focus on the seeds
which echo a subtle hope

though the sliminess still shows,
the planting, the birthing
nourishes the will to let go—
because a magnifying glass
can also augment the divine

This piece is about my dealings with obsessive-compulsive tendencies and the experience of that. It’s about the process of uncovering the roots of how I act, how my brain works. In this endeavor, I have learned to see some of the beauty within it. Because the main facet I deal with is perfectionism, I tried to emphasize how I just need to let go of flaws sometimes. This can be seen in the last stanza. Anyway, I hope that people can relate in some way to this piece, maybe even if it’s just the broad theme of finding a tinge of gold in the thick mud…