“hand-stitched matrilineage”

photo by sophie mcleod

“hand-stitched matrilineage”

second year zoey stephens

“I’ve got a handmade quilt of flowers

Made by my grandmother’s mother

Given to her then gifted to me when I turned thirteen

A blessing of womanhood and femininity

There are bloodstains on the flowers

Painted red from the most holy anointment of my soul laid bare

Once I was ashamed of the blood of my grandmother’s mother

So I turned the quilt over to hide what I thought was unclean

I went out on my own

And left it at my mother’s home

Along with all her gifts that made me a woman

Everything that made me, me

I did all I could to rid myself of the blood of my grandmother's mother

And for a while I did succeed

But my soul and my womb have been freed 

I’ll let blood bleed freely on that quilt of flowers

Like flowers of my own have planted their seed”