I hold you tight up against my body
I take you with me even to the party

I rub you back and forth
Up and down from south to north

I love the way you sing hard and soft
I just can't keep my hands off

I pull you close
From coast to coast

You are beautifully sound
I will never pass you around

Magnificently perfect
You have all of my respect

You are my best friend
Till the end

Building muscles, yes?
Super powers awakened?
No! Just losing hair.*

© Ali Qureshi

I finds cracks on people
who pretend they're whole.
So maybe that's a blessing.
Or maybe it's a curse.
Either way,
I can't save them all.
And there are too many out there
who laugh with broken hearts.

It breaks my heart
to watch the women around me
allow men

to silence their song,
mute their colors,
smolder their fire.

Love is meant to lift us up,
not destroy our existence.

brown soil erupts with till.
more or less still, with seed.
growing pains burst ground,
cosseted by umbrella stem.
seeds of dandelion spread,
waving kisses as they spin.
sunflower magnifies in sky…
till
      seed
                stem
                       ­    ****
                                      sky
                  ­         tired
                 birds
         sigh
o’er

them.  garter snake slithers, amidst anxious pansies and elephant ears.
                                                           ­                                          gray clouds
                                                          ­                                            e
         x
         p
l…………….o
        d……………………..e

xxxxxxxxxxx
­ xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx

Kim Rodrigues (c) 2017

Is it a sin to hate my body when it no longer fits?
When I've outgrown the shell of who I was
Will I be shamed for trying on a new layer of skin like a discount store coat?
I ask because people shift their eyes up and down
Because people whisper in tones they think you don't understand
Because for some reason not loving yourself means you want to slice away all of your parts
It is a death sentence to want to rearrange yourself
But i need change
I just want to feel beautiful
You judge without thought
If I hate my body then all other parts must be corroded too
You're wrong
I love my mind and the intricate circles it traces around the earth
I've fallen head over heels for my heart because it gave me the courage to let others in
I blush just imagining what unbridled masterpieces I could create with my imagination
I want to hold hand with the colour of my eyes and forgot what any other shade looks like
I love myself enough to know that I don't fit this body anymore
And it is not a sin to stop pretending that my coat still hugs me perfectly