I woke up this morning,

And my skin moved as I did

A thousand nerves sparked up to tell me

Hey, your blanket is soft

And your stomach is empty

Hey, the tiles are cold

and your mom is funny

Hey, stepping on a splinter hurts

And now you are thirsty

 

What another thousand nerves didn’t say,

were things it didn’t need voice to me.

It didn’t say,

Hey, you breathe now

And blood must go to your knees

Hey, the immune system needs to work

And remember to always blink

Hey, fling your arms out when you fall

And your heart goes ba-boom after he/she/they leave(s).

 

It all just happens, and it’s all a miracle

That my body tries and succeeds to take care of me

I can feel my laugh in my lungs expanding

It can cool itself down in sweat and tell me

“Hey, now its too cold for what you need”

I don’t think about it, but my body is intricate

My beating heart and racing brain are living.

 

And yet, we all don’t appreciate the miracle

People worry too much to realize its amazing

I’m talking body now,

I’m talking loving

I’m talking about not worrying about

Love-handles, cellulite

Stretch-marks, height

I’m talking about ignoring “perfecting”

Ignoring the newest holy-grail

the newest “perfect being”

and leaving “Self-Love” in bloody rags.

I’m talking and saying STOP

 

How I learned my lesson in this sermon

With a story, when I hated living

Seven years back and gone

My grandma used to call to any and every God

Asking if I must be so torn apart or not,

With my broken home

With my heavy self

With healing from abuse, myself

My auntie heard her cries, and smiling with sad eyes,

She replied,

“At least she’s alive”

“My baby girl should be Bren’s age too, but she’s not

she’s gone.

My baby girl is gone because her body failed her

but Bren’s body is sound, love her.

Teach her love, and her mind can be found”

 

Bodies are blessings, bodies are beauties

Life blood and chubby thighs and knobby knees

They're all beauties

because of their use

because of their artistry

because of their dimension

because of their tenacity

No matter what a greedy world whispers,

Nothing can ever convince me

that bodies aren’t miraculous, astounding.

It'll always go on when we don’t want to

So love it, love your body,

love your life and living

It loves you too.