Day 4: Gallery of Bones by Ahmed Knowmadic

Their image of beauty is a gallery of bones
a showcase of ideals they couldn’t digest
fingers deep in throats reaching for
for words like
beautiful
attractive
loveable

Maybe they reach for
comforting adjectives
or pride they had to swallow
but what comes up
is acidic in nature
and each meal
becomes an excuse
to throw up another

regardless
of how many times
the mirror reassures them
what they see is perfection
their minds continues to
wage a never ending war

Their throats become Gaza
and their fingers invasive missiles
directed to solve a problem
they are causing

Scarred esophagus
and vocal cords
become victims
like innocent civilians
taking bilateral damage

Their stomachs
receive contracts
for muscle contractions
they were never designed for

This school of thought
must have a zero tolerance policy
and must be the reason they expel
registered nutrients
like at risk students

I would like to take this opportunity
to remember  those
who have troubles fitting in
so they fit in to their schedules
routines to
exercise inner demons
giving up everything
just to fit into relationships
silently praying
for genes they will never own
and their bodies can never fit

Ahmed Knowmadic

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