I knew that it would be
the hardest thing
I’d ever done,
but I
never could have imagined
the violent end
I had to face,
so that I
could come back to you.
They took my skin,
and stripped my flesh
off of my bones.
I screamed,
so loud and long,
that I vomited up my insides.
And so,
I lay there,
empty,
tormented and exposed.
Then they smashed my bones;
every one,
until I was perfectly broken.
Finally, I was burned.
My ravaged body turned to ash
and mixed with salt
from the sea
and scattered in the wind
across a hundred beaches.
Somehow,
I made it back to you
better than I was.
Reborn in some
fine, new body.
Now,
I know
my soul can stand
what this world has for me;
and maybe,
I can finally
stand
for you.
HG – 2019
