This is not a poem

Part of the workshop “What Sex Workers Can Teach You About Craft” by Amber Dawn. Vancouver, August 2024.

This is not a poem about trauma. I won’t talk about children terrified by those closest to them.

This is a poem about resilience, the will to survive, and the innate strength inside all that moves us to deny Destiny.

This is not a poem about loneliness. I won’t talk about surrounding yourself with walls because what’s outside is harmful and scary.

This is a poem about love. And how it can make the sturdiest walls crumble when offered free and unencumbered. This is a poem about how it can set your soul free.

This is not a poem about despair, thinking there is no way out, or settling for a life that more resembles death.

This is a poem about hope and having the profound certainty that there must be something more than this.

And this is not a poem about fear, distrust, and never wanting to be noticed; scared of what can befall.

In the end, this is a poem about flourishing. It is a poem about nurturing, becoming and belonging. It is a poem about how it is possible to grow from the dirt and become something thriving and alive.

This is not a poem about years spent hiding. It is a poem about years spent living.