Aleyna Torres

Let me fly Let me rise Let me believe in my body Let me believe in my soul Let me see the beauty I am Let me feel the scars and stretch marks Let me see myself in the mirror Let me eat normally Let me eat till I'm full Let me eat food that makes me joyful Let me believe in my dreams Let me believe that I will get over hating my body Let me believe that I will one day love my body Let me believe that I will cherish it Let me believe that I am enough.

I wished to reach the stars - that one day, it wouldn’t seem so awful to feel the shape and glow afar. I slipped, and fell into the abyss the darkness enveloping my body, no light in sight, Until I realized, the stars I kept chasing, reaching, were already under my skin – stretch marks I tried to ignore small lights that appeared to be my enemy marked every place I was torn open. What I searched for above me, was the same thing written on me constellations made from damaging words, from me....

I see the world beyond the shadows, A world that is bright and free Where people smile and joy fills the air I reach my fingertips out, The orange blaze burning my skin, The doctors tell me, To reach the sky, You must hold yourself to the supreme. Heal your rattling mind full of illnesses, Restore your body of chronic disease, Alleviate those symptoms, And those speeches every day spoken by your broken mind. Those endless talks given by doctors too, “Loose the weight, and you’ll find the...