“Everybody here
Is infirm.
Everybody here is infirm.
Oh. Mend me. Mend me. Lord.Today I
Say to them
Say to them say to them, Lord:
Look! I am beautiful, beautiful with
My wing that is wounded
My eye that is bonded
Or my ear not funded
Or my walk all a-wobble
I’m enough to be beautiful.
You are
beautiful too.”
Is infirm.
Everybody here is infirm.
Oh. Mend me. Mend me. Lord.Today I
Say to them
Say to them say to them, Lord:
Look! I am beautiful, beautiful with
My wing that is wounded
My eye that is bonded
Or my ear not funded
Or my walk all a-wobble
I’m enough to be beautiful.
You are
beautiful too.”
Gwendolyn Brooks
This is a poem brought to me by a former patient.
It was this therapeutic relationship that was the initial inspiration for my book, “Mended Wings; Brokenness As Inspiration.” This poem dismantles the assumption that we must conceal all imperfection to be worthy of respect and affection. In the next few entries we will travel the road of infirm /beauty and explore how it can help us regain our truest self.