Look closer.
Your heart was not made a bomb shelter;
you came out with iron fists and a crown of mounted heads,
but life is not all about survival,
your mouth was not meant as a graveyard for all the ways they could not love you.
Come closer.
Do not handcuff your wrists to the names they call you;
spend time teaching your hands to handle your body
as carefully as you would your mother’s wedding dress.
Look in to the mirror as you would an old polaroid.
The best rebellion is forgiving yourself.
Young one, cherish the smell of your skin after a bath,
cherish the fights you have with your mind when she
becomes too stubborn to love those wide thighs.
Not everything comes with a warning.
Sometimes it is you who sets the sparks into flames.
Still, never be afraid to fall asleep in nothing but skin.
You are no longer a trail of whispers,
you are my tender warrior; the softest gargoyle.
Do not punish yourself for what you did to survive;
it is true that the holiest creatures often leave the deepest wounds,
and you, my darling, are not a casualty.
You are the victor. You swallowed the war.
It was you who swayed the omens.
Darling, life is not all about survival,
but oh, how well you wear it.
Patricia Camille Antony, or Camillea as she prefers to go by, is a writer of mixed heritage. She is also a fresh graduate of Journalism & Mass Communication, and is currently pursuing her Masters in Sociology as well as a Certificate in Teaching. Camillea can be found tucking love notes between the pages of her journals, or in the crevices of souls. Some day, she hopes to travel the world, and work towards the empowerment of women. Until then, you can find her through her Tumblr blog, maelinoe.
