Tree Body Poem

| By Genevieve Rudd |

My winter body bends and twists

As the rigor mortis sets in,

Baclofen eases the tensioners,

Swaddled under a canopy

Sunken into the mattress litter.

Mulch from industrial white linen,

That's not a blanket, it’s a counterpane,

Counter this pain with the ease of afternoon sunlight casting shadows across horizons –

making me take up more space than i’m allocated in my curtain draped plot, not a bed rot

but nesting in recuperation, soft and eased cotton and warmth, passive movement like a

summer breeze. From every scar sprouts forth new life.

Vein-like tendrils pollarded and grafted to make new maps.

Mark me before you start your brutal carve up.

I can’t remember what my shape was meant to be so I reach towards the new light path.

Velcro straps now where suppleness once was.

Tree Body Poem is spoken as the soundtrack to Genevieve's 2026 short animated film, 'Becoming'. You can watch 'Becoming' below.

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