onion

I used to wear layer upon layer,

Trying to hide who I was 

My shape

My form

My being

My light. 

Ultimately,

I was trying to bury my light so nobody would see me

I didn't want to be seen

Or made known

For fear of what others would say

In fear of what has been said before.

I will no longer bury the light

Or my form

 

I will continue to fight for my existence

And presence

To be known

And not in an arrogant way

But as a leader

My light will guide

My light does guide

Men, women, children

I fear no fate 

My light will guide, and heal, and fly me far from the binds that try to hold me down, while people attempt to spit in my face, or demoralize me. 

I will be far from it all. 

Because I've embraced, harnessed, stoked the flame

That lights the hottest fire

You could never imagine

Right inside

This tiny frame

With beating heart

And coursing veins

And bubbling blood

Dying to soak up every last bit of sun in these frail bones.