This Physical Figure

I do not have a girlish figure

I have a womanly body

Curvy and soft

Full of mysterious places, lumps and bumps, scars and fresh cuts

My physical form tells of sex, secrets and shame

Of pain so deep and constant it has its own domain

In my back and my hips and my thighs

Coursing through my veins with lava

Of stress and sadness

With chills down my spine

Of fear and great darkness

I do not have a girlish figure

I have a womanly body

Curvy and whole

Hardened by time

The curve of my spine

Takes pride

In the fact that my body is more

Than something to look at

And explore

It is the art of my existence

Telling a truth so fascinating

It’s breathtaking and at once

Painful and searing

Imperfect and unfiltered

Honest and unique

My girlish figure a quip of the past

A moment so temporary it barely lasts

But my womanly body

My ever-changing physical form

Is the vessel for my life’s story.

NAOMI COHEN