Then and now

Photo by Faye Cornish on Unsplash

I was raised to fill the space of my mothers need — not beyond

But I breathe the expanse of sky and the starry night is my voice.

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I was raised to be straight as a pin and to feel shame in the

growing heat of want

But I am curved and soft, in love with the woman who knows herself

and the man who laughs with eyes light as sunshine

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I was sown into fear and a knowledge of good and evil clear as any blade

Yet I am bold in my companionship with empathy. Nothing is so sharp as to

cut a clean line through my desire to understand.

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I was born without a surface to set my identity

But I house many accomplishments and goals,

each year a new shelf to set my growth upon

And admire it

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In every press of desire, I felt hers tickle at the edges, mixing shame and fear

With pleasure.

But my skin is mine and my desire is my own. I am not and was never hers.