Littlest, It’s Been Too Long

by Caridad Cole

You fall from mother’s roof, her roots

wrap around your waist

and tickle your hips with split ends,

burnt outlines and dried up scents

cracking under the weight of great expectations

She has learned and now

you need to learn:

You weigh something like

Image credit: Sasha Freemind on Unsplash

gravity

in my tired expanse

You are sand

You are a mountain

You are brown and worn down

to your dullest pinks

You need to learn

to inhale shores

You need to learn

that your sense of self

                  is precariously

                    balanced

                    between

      what I am willing to

                 give

                 and

               what you are willing to

                                    take

Trade the air escaping my slippery grip

(if you have to)

for something heavy

and capable of taking a breath:

a smile, a conscious smile

You don’t create meaning

She didn’t create meaning

I create meaning

of fleshy loss of control

That feeling when–

I create your thoughts,

Pulsing organs,

A pleasant color palette,

The satin ribbons gliding you through the air,

Small sounds to ease your guests as you glide through the air

She gives you seeds and freckles, rocks, ladybugs

but

appropriate imagery, only

leaves a mark on your body

You need to learn

you were a child yawning and waning still,

crying

Now you are a woman

***

Caridad Cole

Caridad Cole is a writer and filmmaker from forested Northeastern America who has appeared in Coffin Bell, Vocivia Magazine, BarBar, An Anthology of Rural Stories by Writers of Color 2024 (EastOver Press), and elsewhere. She is a 2025 Pushcart Prize nominee, 2025 BarBe Awards finalist, and was the 2018 recipient of three grants from Words for Charity for her work in magical realism. In 2023, she founded the speculative literary and art magazine, Moonday Mag. Though very busy searching for the sea witch who swallowed her charm bracelet, Caridad can be reached on Instagram @astrocari and at caridadcole.com.