(Self) Love Potion
Family recipe | Full moon required

by Marion Chiariglione


I.
Reach for your cabinets.

Get up on a ladder if need be
& find the strength to make this,
your own recipe.

Don’t deviate too much or you could lose
pieces of yourself only to be found
in someone else you’d call “soulmate”.

II.
Start with a pinch—2 or 3 grains—of confidence
obtained at the crossroads of external validation & emancipation.

III.
Do not confuse newly found attention for admiration.

IV.
Add in 1 cup of tears—careful!
These need to be collected on a new moon
after moments of unrecognizable abandon—

V.
Mix in 1/4 of trust issues.

VI.
Don't forget to add 10 grams of family trauma
& je-ne-sais-quoi
pulled from the depths
of ancestral secrets—no je t’aime allowed at the altar.

VII.
Extract from Maman’s body 26 years worth of self-deprecation
& from that lineage decide the amount of painful blood to empty out.
Commit—for once—to the feeling of abandon.

VIII.
Now, dirty your hands & take ownership of
the path you’ve walked for centuries.

Harness the power
of generations behind your eyes.

IX.
Mix all ingredients well—Watch!
Feel your selves come alive at the hearth’s
fire—center love within.

X.
Expect results three full moons from now.


* * * * *

Marion Chiariglione is a writer and artist from Avignon, France currently living in Columbus, OH. Her work as a poet explores what it means to build new identities, to relate the self to others and to embody and embrace one’s feelings. She holds a MS in Computer Science and has published scientific work as part of her day job as a Data Scientist at The Ohio State University. This is her first poetry publication.