Poem on Body Image

Thorns and Thoughts

Written by Simran Suri, a WSTB05 student from the University of Toronto

This poem was submitted as part of OPF's partnership with the WSTB05 class (Understanding Power and Knowledge in Research). More information about our partnership can be found here.  

Thorns and Thoughts

Stemming

Sprouting 

Found myself in a patch.

Didn’t know if I could match. 

A plethora of them.

But I was just a stem. 

I noticed, was I:

Different?

Who looked like me? 

Maybe Unique?

It felt… 

As bright as a rainbow.

I didn’t know if it could show.

I felt low. 

I gave it a thought.

It felt like a knot. 

Look at my thorns.

It pricks. 

It sticks.

I can’t get rid of it.

I paused.

But there were no flaws?

I was as soft as silk.

It’s just the way I was built.

Why should I feel guilt? 

When it’s the way I’m traced. 

And it’s what I’ll embrace.