Shake Loose My Skin Poem by Shemaine English

I shake
loose
my skin,

from the chains
you have
cast upon me.

Step outside
the
prison
of self
hatred
and doubt.

Into the clear
revelation
of self
awareness.

I shake
loose
my skin.

From your rage
and
dehumanizing
words.

I have
been tainted
long enough
by you.

The destruction
stops
now.

I shake
loose
my skin.

from the
bitterness,

you have tried
to permanently
store
inside my bones.

Because I am
too beautiful
to walk
around
with poison
in my heart.

I deserve
laughter

and gentle
hands,
not tears
and brutality.

I deserve life.
If I could
go back,
If I could
hold
the past
in my hands.

I would
STRIKE
BACK
at the very
first blow.

I would match
the strength

of your fists
with my
words.

And not
back away,

because of
the deadly
fire
in your eyes.

But I have
no time
for regrets.

No time,
to stay
stuck
in a past
that holds
nothing
but pain.

You have
hurt me
long enough.

And don't deserve
a second
more.

I will not allow
my journey
to be
compromised,
by
my past
with you.

That is ALL
I have
to say.

Forever.