The Temple Within

The noise in the world has caused my temple to shake.

A magnitude of eight that wrecked my foundation

leaving me with no place to call home.

Expectations of a society

that only sees beauty in one shade.

I cannot count the times I have looked in the mirror

then turned my face away.

Never seeing the beauty

but only the places my mind met my body

that I wished desperately to change.

It took some time to embrace

the temple in which I reside.

To see that its murals are a gift from the divine.

The temple within is my safe place.

I must cultivate the soil

and water every corner the same way.

Learn to navigate the curves of my hips

and go with the flow like waves in the ocean.

Honoring my temple is a priority

I waited too long to recognize.

I am no longer ignoring intuition,

the voice that tells me to rest;

or to trace every part of my body

before my skin sheds

The temple within is my safe place.

Where I can come undone, learn, and unlearn.

Where true beauty resides, my heaven on earth.

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Edited by: Leslie Vargas

Cover Photo Credit: Jasmine LeCount-McClanahan