love letter (to my body)

tell me, my beloved

how it feels when I take you in my arms

and feel the skin that housed

a thousand heartbreaks

a million bruises made

by fists of a cruel world

tell me how it feels when I trace your scars

and tell you stories about how they taught you

resilience and how to walk away from trauma

tell me how it feels to

walk away from the gaze of eyes intent on judgement

and never feel shame.

tell me how I can love you better

tell me how I can defend you

from the cages of laws that force you

to trap yourself in ideas and clothes that don't fit

and that leave marks from what they call progress.

tell me how to teach your feet

to warm these cold streets

and set fire to warm yourself

in such beautiful acts of resistance.