Katanya, tak baik untuk memendam
Tetapi, tak semua rasa mudah memadam
Katanya, janganlah selalu dipendam
Nyatanya, tak semua cakap bisa meredam

Mereka, bisa menuntut
Tetapi, haruskah hati selalu menurut?
Mereka,  bisa bertindak sebagai penuntut
Tetapi, rasanya.. jiwa tak perlu selalu berlutut

Ada masa.. untuk menarik diri
Untuk bersimpuh, dan memberi diri afeksi
Ada masa... untuk menangis, memendam semua emosi
Untuk menyadari semua hanya proses menjadi asri

Terima kasih, sudah selalu kuat
Berdiri dan menjalani semua walau terasa berat
Terima kasih, sudah selalu kuat
Untuk kamu, yang terhebat..

Dear Love,

I found you in the back alley way
near the barn on a bike
and swimming in the glen.

Saw you jump right in,
*** out, into a freezing pool -
middle fingers in the air
like some weird baptismal funeral.

I felt the weight of your losses on my shoulders
like a backpacking trip from hell,
and the way your lips pressed against one another
in an empty room.

Heard you laugh in an empty room
and fill cars with God-awful karaoke,
windows down and smiling the whole time.

I tasted your tears when you laughed
so hard that you cried, or cried so hard that you laughed,
bittersweet like a chipwich in a 711 parking lot.

Smelt your pain like a two-day-old dish
just waiting to be scrubbed, and
your happiness in clean clothes and roadside flowers.

They say soul mates aren't real,
its just who you put the work into.
Each day I wake up to you,
raw and real and still trying,
still learning and loving and giving it your all,
and honey that's just why I love,

Myself

This life accused me.
I didn’t answer,
Because under my skin;
I found Anima Mundi.

dear basil,

i know long distance is the bane of your existence
and you feel like the only person that understands you is
more than 1000 miles away
(maybe that's true)

i also know that you are cursing yourself at 3am
for wanting to be held
thinking that means you are toxic and codependent
but it's OKAY to want love
(i promise)

it's okay to cry yourself to sleep sometimes
because loving across distance is hard and painful
as long as you pick yourself back up in the morning
do your skincare routine, feel beautiful
sing to yourself, be whimsical
smile at strangers, wear your heart on your sleeve
(your heart is not broken, just tired)

but you can do it
live in text messages and phone calls
write letters, send care packages
until you can kiss his soft lips goodnight
every. single. night.
(it will be worth it)

(i promise),
basil

One day
I will look into the mirror
and not hate what I see

One day
I will be glad that I am finally me

One day
I wont be disgusted by my reflection

One day
I will love my imperfections

One day
I will rise from above
And finally give my body love

I sat alone, with thoughts so deep,
A mirror showed my soul to peep.
It reflected back my deepest fears,
My pain, my doubts, my unshed tears.

But as I looked into that glass,
I saw beyond the pain amassed.
I saw the strength that I possessed,
To rise above and face the test.

The fire burning bright within,
The will to fight and never give in,
To break the chains and be set free,
To rise above, and truly be me.

So now I sit, not quite alone,
With a newfound strength I've honed.
I see the beauty, the love, the grace,
Reflected back upon my face.

With every challenge that I face,
I know that I can find my place.
For in that mirror, clear as day,
I see the power to light my way.

Gaze at me, with you ever-so-slight smudged lipstick
Pop-punk lyrics issuing from your perfect mouth
Dark circles from the khôl and folly
Forgiveness from your youth
Torsion of perfection into a wry smile
Sober, you say, drunk, who'll walk upon my style?
Who'll dare? I dare, in laying bare, ballet hands,
The contents of my *****; You know, friends,
I may be an actress, and pretentious,
But my ability to lie's contentious.

I like my hairy legs,
They make me feel like a sunbleached cowboy.
They make me feel like a long, lean man with elegant lines and a strong forehead.
I like it when they’re blonde
And they just glisten on my skin.
Like a faux-protection or a cloak,
A delicate barrier between myself
And the world.

Or really I guess I just like the way it looks:
Textured
But smooth.

It looks wild but soft.

A landscape.

I think the hair compliments
The shape of me very well.

I’m always amazed how the hair grows everywhere,
Even on the back of my knees
There is hair

And I like my boyish pretty toes.

I guess I like the sort of genderless aspect to my legs.

From far away they shout
I AM A WOMAN!

But from near they could be anyone’s: hairy with little scars here and there, hairy toes with some dead skin in the toe nail creases. A sort of chunky pink toe there on the end.

A bit of dry callous on my heels. A strong, curved calf muscle. The hollows at my ankles, the delicate depression behind my ankle bones just before the rigid wrinkles of my Achilles tendon.

I like the bulging veins in the arch of my foot when I point my toes
How they press their purple faces against my see-thru skin
Squeezed by the muscles that bump against one another beneath the hard arched bones above
I like the little bubbles of fat that pad my heels, turning bright yellow when I stand on them
Never-smooth legs that even when freshly shaved still prickle
Like a cactus
“Don’t get too comfortable here” they say
These beautiful legs aren’t for rubbing and lounging though my calves love to be pressured

These legs are made for exploration