Beneath This Flesh ~ via magical wordsmith, Dena Daigle

Who am I behind clenched teeth, bruised knees and bloody knuckles?

All I have ever known is to fight – for my purity, my sanity, my battered heart still beating;
fight for what I love, fight for those who won’t,
fight just to be heard, fight to speak these words.

But who am I beneath wrapped fists?
Who am I but the shoe that doesn’t fit?
I fought my entire life to be more than just some pretty face lost in the crowd.

You see, this flesh has come with a price much too high for my taste.
My worth has been determined by wandering eyes and rough hands tainting my skin.
They never saw my heart. They saw a quick release of raging hormones.
They saw my face as a canvas for bloody art and annihilation.
They saw me as a little fun while waiting to give their hearts to the one.
But I know my worth.

I know this spirit is unbreakable, unbridled and wild and not meant for scared little boys.
This heart loves with a tenderness so soft and so pure
you could never imagine the pain I have been forced to endure.

If my lips never spoke of such atrocities;
had they kept the raging rivers at bay
this soul would never have been cleansed,
nor my sins ever washed away.

I have taken back the power I once freely gave away.

My spirit, she is larger than life and I will no longer play small for the likes of you.
Keep your beige box of boring confines because the colors of my soul will forever bleed outside the lines.

I will no longer be made to feel like a foreigner in my own flesh.
Beneath this hardened armor lies the heart of a peaceful warrior I will fight for her ‘til my death.

Dena M. Daigle is an Indie wordsmith from New Orleans, Louisiana who began her love affair with words as a teenager. She is an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, child abuse and drug addiction, seeking to raise awareness and offer solace through her words. Her first book of poetry and prose, Scattered Ashes, was released in August, 2017. Other publications have been featured on Rebelle Society, A Better Today Media and Creative Talents Unleashed. In addition to her debut book, Scattered Ashes, Dena is featured in the anthologies, Cupid’s Arrow and Fire & Ice by Creative Talents Unleashed in support of the Starving Artists’ Fund. Dena is currently working on her second book, an interactive, self-help style guidebook for society’s “misfits.” Her current mental musings can be also found on the Facebook page, Phoenix Ascended, or her blog.

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