BY: LIZ HARDIE
Finally, my body, my choice
Sexually assaulted
My Body, Not My Choice
Still not sure where I belonged
Stress and anxiety lingered in my mind
I felt out of place in life, at school
Confused by the switch, change in routine
Didn’t seem to fit, had few friends
Friends were fun, always had a good time
School trip to Virginia
Busch Gardens and Virginia Beach
Check-ins at locations we made
At the beach we hit the shops
A small body piercing shop caught my eye
Parents would kill me
No one would know
Sign on the dotted line, no ID required
Belly button pierced
Shit what did I do
Only my friends would know
No pain, no worries
I fell in love with piercings
The control I had over my body
The choices I could make
Raped
My Body, Not My Choice
Turned 18, pierced my eyebrow
People stared
People hated it
I loved it, my body, my choice
Then came my first tattoo, also at 18
Best decision ever
Never having control of my body
I finally had control of these choices
People could hate
People could stare
Next came a tongue piercing
Terrible timing, night before our family beach trip
Eating was a struggle, so swelled
But I loved it, my body, my choice
More tattoos I got, too many to count
Many more to come
People will always stare and judge
They can think whatever they want
Each tattoo tells a story
And my piercings and tattoos got me to realize
I make choices about my body, no one else
Photo by Thirdman: https://www.pexels.com/photo/yellow-text-on-black-background-5981818/