you send me pictures of the
two of us and my mind
instantly tears myself apart;
‘Look how huge your arms are,
your face is terrible these days,
you should be ashamed.’
But you say,
‘These pictures make me so happy.”
All you see is arms holding you,
and a face that is happy to be there—
you look at these pictures
and see love, and comfort, and safety.
It doesn’t matter that I don’t
know how to exist in a
body that looks like this,
all that matters is
I’m here.”
1988- 