I am an innocent, loved for my beauty

And punished for my ignorance of it

I am a child mother

A widow too young

I am a survivor

Of cancer and brutal lovers hands

I am comfort to those who use me

I am tormented for my purity

I am a woman who is misinterpreted,

Maladjusted, mislead, misinformed

I am one who is forced into silence

Into denial of my own intelligence

I am lonesome but not lonely

I am a lover of my strengths,

My conquered battles,

My abilities, my scars, my brokenness,

My shattered heart, my forgotten dreams

I am me

I am all of me

I am