Danielle Garland

Heritage 

this may                            always
tangle you                       this pattern of
great love and then            silence
blink and

the mother turns away
blink and                        the voice leaves
the body

the grandmother              abandons
the mother                       abandons
the daughter…                      
abandons
how do you draw
a tree without branches
how do                       you know her
mothers                       love
that love                        is not yours
blink and                       call any woman
mother
blink and                                          
watch her walk away
love                        that was
never                        about you
trust                        screaming into
the silence                        the aftershocks
always spinning
pick up                        this story:
the abandoned                  daughter
abandoning her children
and wonder

Danielle Garland (she/her) is a writer, science communicator, and feeding therapist from southern Appalachia who spends time thinking about grief, the intimacy of movement, and the fragility of narrative. Her work has been previously published or is upcoming in Ninth Letter, Empty House Press, Susurrus Magazine, and others. Find her on Instagram @_daniellegarland