Perfectionism is a Brawler

May Bonus: Exhale Blog Hop 💛

I thought I would 

strip off perfectionism 

like a too tight bra 

fling it on the bed 

and that would be it 

Turns out, perfectionism 

is a brawler 

I am a dragon

I am Eustace

tearing off scales 

Hacking, heaving 

but grieving my old friend 

Control, who breathed 

you will be safe 

but numb 

Each bleeding scale

I discard 

I realise this 

is what it's like

to breathe. 

Gouging at this scale 

over my eyes 

grayscale disappears

the world explodes 

into colour 

Casting away perfectionism 

is setting fire to the lie

if you do it all right,

you will be

safe  

It was never safe 

but it’s richer 

and more beautiful 

than I could 

imagine 

Aslan is coming

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale - an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series “Create Anyway”.