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.

About the author

An expatriate from the ancestral land of the Huetar people. Descendant of the few who survived and the colonizers who enslaved them, murdered them and stole their land, their culture and their name.

If you enjoyed this, you can check my other stories here on transrants.com or on medium.com, or even consider buying my book. Thanks!