Resolutions: I Promise | Spoken Word Poem by Natalie Patterson

In celebration of the new year, Natalie Patterson performs a new poem about resolutions and promises.
Written and Performed by: Natalie Patterson
Filmed and Edited by: Jacob Menache
Resolutions: I Promise
It is rare that I make resolutions
Don’t want them to haunt me in the dead of night
Each day guilted by all the things I said I would or would not do
I only do what I want, when I want
With a full heart or not at all
And the rest will have to settle somewhere between my lips and my intention

I don’t promise often
But there comes a day
When I am more than wild woman
More than what I’ve accomplished or seek to and as that day approaches
You should know:
I promise to remember how to love
In the face of hurt in my heart
I will love you
Foolishly, at times but brave
I promise to forgive
To ignite the soft of me and surrender to that everything ain’t gonna grow like I grow
Aint gon’ know what I know, how I know
And that is ok
There is still love in separation
Still love in letting go

I promise to love myself
To honor this girl with dreams she can’t stomach yet but tries hard to
In the morning, I will pray to a God I hope to be more like and she will laugh Knowing I have forgotten already that she loves me unconditionally
Just a silly girl wanting more and more and more
But having everything I already need

I promise to laugh hardest when life is most challenging
I promise to tell strangers they are beautiful because they haven’t heard it in too long
I promise to dance across the floor when I’m excited
I promise to be excited
To sit with my mother to remind her that she makes amazing things
To listen to my elders, to honor the repetition in their stories
To watch intently as my nephew and niece blossom
I promise to call my sister
To love her because she grows our family when I might not

And none of this comes easy
None of it will be overnight
I might be sacred and stubborn at first and when I am
I promise to lean into it
To let life make a masterpiece of me
To say what needs to be said in the moment and trust that I am prepared
I promise to listen to the way God moves
I promise to be moved
To not stop noticing the details in the day
The way you hesitate before speaking
Or the nervous girl at the table next to me
I promise to never stop picking up on energy
And feeling responsible for humanity
I promise to let this fire rage
To drink more water and carry this skin like a gift
I promise to breathe on purpose
And fall in love without fear

I promise. I promise. I promise.
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