I know what I am

A declaration of growth and transformation

Photo by Vadim Sadovski on Unsplash

I no longer identify as
the parentified and therapistified eldest daughter
the family scapegoat
the unwilling martyr carving away chunks of my own soul
the vessel for ignorance and hatred

I am sacred

I will never again
present my mind to be picked clean of beauty
smother my words under my tongue
compromise the steel of my soul by bending
shrink within the walls of my self

I am powerful

I have no interest in
conforming and performing 
poking, prodding, and pinching my form to please
starving to become palatable
suffocating to squeeze into your ideals

I am enough

I will not accept
undermining my worth
being taken for granted
disrespect from any source of any degree
violence visited up on flesh or psyche

I've had enough

I am no offering
no prey
no visitor in my skin
no doll

I am the goddess herself
the huntress
the matriarch 
the hand and soul of creation

—Lily Luz, Mother of Stories