I.
it’s hard to describe what these emotions are. a moment you’re calm, another you’re burning with so much angst that you start to terrify yourself. today, do you sit calmly? grateful for life and people. love and tranquility filling your soul. or is it a day to rage and break? body and things. the new blade looks exceptionally shiny tonight.
II.
how do you make sense of all that goes on inside you? the anger. the despair. the joy. the hate. the love. for you and for others. how easily you oscillate between emotions.
III.
everyone talks about self-love. like it’s the prescribed cure for self-loathe. like it’s a piece of cloth you buy in the market. like it’s an entity you encounter while taking a stroll. like it’s something you force on yourself.
IV.
teach me how to love this body. this body with its beautiful heart and dark soul. this body devoid of all contours and dips. this body that lacks the softness that is said to make a woman. this body with its repulsive flaws and tumultuous soul. this body carved and branded with the sleekiest of blades. this body familiar with hurt. and fear. and anguish. this body with a heart that loves fiercely. this body that is compassionate. this body that knows friendship. and love. and trust. and kindness. teach me how to love this body.
©binttaajudeen
November 25, 2019
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Hello. Assalaam alaykum!
This is another piece I wrote last year.
Enjoy!
PS- I really appreciate feedbacks and comments. It’d be kind of you to leave one if you can. ❤
Till we meet again, bi idhniLlah.
❤, Simbiat.
Blooming Thoughts 
Loving one’s self starts with loving the Almighty God and everything He has created. We are humans and not perfect.
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Lol, I’m not sure we’re coming from the same angle. But it’s nice that you see it that way. Thank you.
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While many may see the “body” referred to here from the literal point of view. I’ll like to see it as another, from the literary point. Body here may mean the country (Nigeria for example) that has betrayed its citizens and consequently, they find it hard to love the body (country).
Being a Nigerian brings different feelings. At times joy, at times laughter, at times anger, at times despair, at times hatred etc. This is explicitly stated in stanza 2. (how do you make sense of all that goes on inside you? the anger. the despair. the joy. the hate…)
In stanza 3, the poet talks about the difficulty embedded in loving this country that has jilted the hopes of its citizens (…something you force on yourself.). The poet make it seem like a necessary burden, like a cross.
In stanza 4,that the body (country) cannot just be neglected and denied, the poet is prompted to seek for ways to accept/love the body with its ups and downs, perfections and flaws, compassion/hatred, promises and jilts etc ( teach me how to love this body. this body with its beautiful heart and dark soul.)..
Nice one there! Let the pen continue to flutter to the breeze of creative muse. Well done 👏
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Oh wow. Lol, I didn’t think of it this way. Thanks for your comment.
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Lol😂. That’s literature 😉
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Lol😂. That’s literature 😉
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Oh this really resonated with me. I loved this piece a lot. Woah, you good!
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I’m glad it did.
Thank you for your kind words.
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Hmm..
Here, I sense a mind drenched in clashing feelings. I sense some thoughts too— dark, stained and tainted with self-doubt and seeming stints of depression. This feeling is most foregrounded in the symbolic statement, ‘the new blade looks exceptionally shiny tonight’.
Likewise, I hear the voice of a persona who’s stuck in emotional disorder. A persona who seems to want to give up, but is still desperate for help. Even as ‘self-love’ seems to melt, there’s still the fight to want to learn ‘how to love this body’— something like a craving for therapy.
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Good knitting of thoughts and emotions up there! I like the flow and, especially, the stylistic break from the norm.. well-done 😊
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Thank you.
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