Poetry By Lottie Anderson

       Øyvind Holmstad CC



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Little Sister
 
A cutting with tiny sprouting leaves
Snipped from big mama spider plant
Whos roots are deeply potted
The roots that twist and chant
 
Chanting to a rhythm 
Stomping tiny plimsoles
Making magical markings
That quickly grow tired and old 
 
Imprinted in soil and grain
centuries of girls before 
Journaling their growing pains 
Now you think you know it all?
 
Little baby, your leaves have grown
So vibrant and angry 
I want to stroke your hair 
Do you still understand me?
 
I understand you
I’ve done it all, just before
Golden people pleasing child
Simply first born
 
Not defiant and steadfast 
Or so unusually annoying 
You’ve outgrown your pot already 
This new-age world you are employing-
 
You look like a different species 
Sudden speckled markings on your leaves
Your tiny toes wear big boots 
Just please don’t leave me
 
I am big sis
And I cry for you
Even though you’re healthy and strong 
Your roots move uncomfortably 
Deciding between right and wrong
 
I’ll pretend to know what to do 
To reassure and love you
As a big sis should 
 
Golden imprints 
Feminist spirit 
Venus carved from wood  
 
Mistakes get made 
Bodies change 
Some things stay the same
 
I’ll help you lift it 
The weight of your age
And your anger 
 
I just love you so much
Tied together with ribbon
Jade green for jealousy
 
And a padlock for protection 
I try to stop you being hurt  
Or loosing all direction 
 
But you don’t listen anyway 
And that’s fine by me.

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Lottie is an artist and poet from the UK. She is currently training as a Mental Health Nurse. She uses poetry to express the complexity of human emotion, nostalgia, trauma and the interconnectedness of everything. She tries not to be too planned or structured when she writes, letting her unconscious flow. It’s not often that happens authentically; she sees each poem as a gem, a treasure, a time capsule. Each poem telling a story from a moment her my life. Lottie uses poetry to nourish and nurture her own inner child, to value it deeply. We are all imperfect; life is about endeavouring to explore what ‘flawed’ really means- and how we choose to use such a label.