This Body

Trigger Warning: This post contains violent and graphic content. Read at your discretion and take good care of yourselves. I decided to end my silence.

It is time
Time to reclaim this body
This body that sits naked on the earth
crying out to come home 
This body that has been beaten, punched, slapped, shoved, hair pulled
bitten 
(yes bitten)
This body that has been raped
and raped
I do not coat that word in something sweet 
so as not to offend your ears
I say it the way it was done to me
rape
This body that was used as another person's reason for power
another person's blocked rage and need for torment
This body an outlet for your self-loathing
a starved skeleton of my own
This body has a right to say
ENOUGH
I'm done
I quit
Yet here it is
not quitting
This body danced and sang
and rolled with the punches
Call me an idiot
I still love
Call me a whore, a dyke, thing, stupid, fucked up
I still love
Tell me I'm worthless, I'm crazy, I don't belong
I still love
In fact, I'm a big mother fucking love bomb ready to explode
To tell the earth 
I love you
To tell my mother 
I love you
and when I tell you
I love you
and you can't handle it
cause you have issues
that's OK
I'll still love you anyway
And I love me too
I love this body
that was broken and starving and twisted
and survived to thrive
and dance on the side of a mountain
This body with a bunny heart
Like holding a butterfly
But butterflies are stronger than you think
And don't they know it