If it is true, you are what you eat
Then I shall put myself on a diet
Of dust motes and empty space
To become what you reflect
A man is a mirror, after all

I shall dine on snowflakes
Become delicate and transparent
Swallow promises whole
So nothing will be expected

I will lay myself down with a garnish
And you can peel me apart, chew me up
But don’t spit out the parts you don’t like
You would starve

But isn’t it true
You would do it regardless
For I am not worth the sour taste
I leave on your lips, and so
I rephrase

It Is true, you are what you eat
But I will not put myself on a diet
Of daisies and rose water
I will not shrink myself to fit your palm
So you can squeeze me until I trickle through your fingers
Into a puddle of self-deprecating dependence

No, I am not a Daisy, no I am not a rose
Because the thing about flowers
Is their beauty is ethereal
Their beauty is fleeting
Their beauty is crystalized with a slight frost
And shattered by a warm touch
Can only be held by cold-hearted hands

No, I am the dirt beneath our feet because
I am grounded
I am the foundation of my beliefs
I am impure and I am good
I am open to roots, or
The will of the wind
I am not trampled by those
Who walk my back, rather
I hold up those I love
I take in all I’m given and make something beautiful
You can melt the snowflake but you cannot stop the storm
You can burn the flowers but you cannot burn the earth