BE FREE

She smiles from her face 

But hardly from her heart,

Her body is full of scars

Beautifully stitched to hide

The blades that once penetrated her thick skin,

She covers her face with thick layers of makeup

To hide her swollen eyes; Insomnia is her friend,

She has learned the subtle art of waking up in the middle of the night,

Staring at robes and knives,

Gas lighters and pills,

Sometimes,

She wants to vanish.

She seldom talks

She has a voice but you can’t hear her

Even when she manages to say more than a word

You can feel painful breaks and voices in her voice

The shiver you feel every time you reach for her skin

Tells you there are screams she hides inside

Wounds buried on dark alleys of her heart

50 shades of pain flicking their lights inside her soul

She once gave her heart away but it came back broken

Her body is a temple that was defiled, used, abandoned and forsaken 

Her soul was once a peaceful place

But now it wonders to extreme ends

Set on fire by people who didn’t know her worth.

Be free.

I’ve seen her walk through the sunset

Searching for an ear to listen

Listen even to the things she’s scared to stay

Behind her scarred body is a beautiful castle waiting to be uncovered

Under her sad mask is a spirit that wants to be free,

Dance through the rain, feel no pain

Inside her body,

There are two souls

One that wants to perish

And another wants to be free

And I write this poem asking you to be free

Be free,

Be free.

You’re a city set upon the mountains

And not a broken territory

I write this poem asking you to learn

Learn how to stitch yourself piece after piece

Mold yourself part after part

Love yourself flaw after flaw

Little darling go out an be free.

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Cover photo by Bernadetta Watts