Untitled by Kimberly Van Ryn

In circles like mine, in the circles of women, and the spirals of time

we talk about the mother wound, I look down and see the place that held the cord that held me to her – sure, there’s a healed-up wound: belly button bare on my body.

but who talks of the wound of the father, where is it to be seen?

the mark on a paper when a bored technician compared the dna? paternity confirmed.

where does that live on me? It’s not on – it’s in – all the way inside.

the mark on the spiral I cannot see, that I am his and he is mine; intertwined.

The crimes of our fathers, too many to count while lost in terror on the patriarchal high horse, run amok with uncertain authority… is this a daddy-wound or a power struggle? The wounding comes when there are no answers to the ever-infested questions

a wound or an infection?

and even so, and even so I know he smells like the breeze in June and the smoke he had behind the barn – like I never knew

I know he echoes in me – my wounds but also my eyes, also my hands which reach towards the trees, and also the sky and also the beyond.

genetics, galaxies

grounded.

I will forever carry him in my blood - the wound we cannot see that swirls all the way through the soma of me and beyond the spiral to the roots of the tree, to the earth where it may finally come home

to rest.

~ KVR 2025 ~

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Kim Van Ryn is a Child and Youth Worker, Trauma Informed Practitioner and entrepreneur - the founder of Branching Out Support Services Inc, a social enterprise organization that supports neurodivergent people and their families/circles of support based in Orangeville, Ontario. As a curious student of life Kim enjoys reading, writing, meditation, yoga, cooking/eating excellent vegetarian food and exploring the natural world. In her most happy place she is curled up with her cat Sassy, a hot cup of coffee, a pile of books and research articles.

FB:https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.vanryn.9/