Poetry

March 15, 2018 Poetry , POETRY / FICTION

astrid westvang photo

By

This Body

This body is blood,

bones and a beating heart.

Organs working together in symphony

sometimes not so melodic, out-of-key, missed beats

but it works.

Mostly.

This body is fat

cascading into arches and bumps —

It’s beautiful

Perhaps not in aesthetic,

not in your eyes or mine

but in its mechanism;

its functioning is beautiful.

But most of all

this body is mine

not that of teenage boys

who do not understand

no means too far.

Not that of passers-by in the middle of the night;

their eyes are theirs but this body is mine.

Their eyes may make me walk a little faster

wrap my jacket closer to this body

but this body is mine.

Not theirs

Not that of fathers or uncles

Not that of memories dissolved in the back of my head

too afraid to open Pandora’s prison for what I might unleash

too afraid that nights crying may turn my body into aching flesh trying to forget what I don’t remember.

This body is mine

to abuse, to hate or maybe someday to love.

Every arch and imperfection

Every stretch-mark and scar

Not theirs

If I can allow it

for as long as I can allow it.

For Emma

She told me we had a forest in our hearts.

Trees and branches in our hearts – arteries and capillaries

stretching out like our hands reaching for

something beautiful.

Hoping we bloom into something sweet and ripe

like dark summer cherries

or vines of pendulous purple grapes

on imperishable strands of muscle.

Hoping to be strong and sustaining,

unwavering to the rush of roaring rivers

and hissing streams,

holding life and nourishment to keep our minds unceasing

our heart drum beating

this forest flourishing

in all its complexity.

Immeasurable

yet prevailing – a constant thumping in our chests

until our very last breath – and silence.

Sarneet Saran is a 17 year old high school senior from Hong Kong, China. She has been writing poetry for only a year, and is extremely passionate about it. She enjoys spoken word poetry in particular, and attends and performs at poetry open mics in Hong Kong. Besides poetry, she enjoys history, and lengthy discussions on socio-political issues, like mental health and racial issues.