There will come a time

when you will be asked to pour out

everything that has kept you

from knowing your soul’s hunger.

When the hunger comes,

(and it will come, ravenous and unbridled)

don’t stuff it down.

Feel the curve of your own emptiness

like the smooth cavity of an alabaster jar

poured out.

When you are starving,

don’t let unworthiness sit too closely

though she presses up against you

and offers the plate of shame

you’ve eaten from

for far too long.

Why do you think your hunger means

you are aren’t properly grateful?

No more submissive shrinking.

Stretch to your full girth.

Let your hunger expand

and take up space

until it’s all that you can feel.

You were not made to diminish,

but to dismantle the darkness

that for, too long,

has kept your wild hunger suppressed.

Breathe from your soft, round belly:

she is the source of your bravery.

Name your soul’s want.

Transmutation is on the tip of your tongue.

Open your mouth

and eat.