Nocturnal Issue V | Page 11

My body, now not quite the same,

shifting tides of womanhood

settled on my frame

sits still,

now feels more me than my name,

it’s holographic in

the morning light of my eyes.

I remember what I would have given

for my fat to have torn.

For my flesh to have worn down

to so much less

and I smile.

See my skin, flesh,

adorned in only itself

isn’t perfect,

but my skin, flesh

adorned in only itself

is

perfect.

Your body is beautiful

and terrifying

and will take you far

so batten down the hatches,

tie your spine to the mast,

this feeling you’re feeling

it too shall pass.

Illustration by ED LUCAS

GRACE COHEN