Ocean of Divine Mercy, Flow Upon Us

After finally breaking free of your grasp, it is time to tend to the gaping wounds, the places upon my skin that beg me to return to you. I will heal the parts of me that once belonged to you. I will discover how to belong to myself.

Forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.

Nobody is in love with me and everything is still warm. Still soft. Still rosewater and a typewriter ribbon. Still cookbooks and salt air and sheer black lingerie. Still red lipstick. Still mostly kind. Still often uncomplicated. Still mints at the bottom of my purse, hair held back, pulse thumping through skin. Still sweet tea in a pitcher on the kitchen counter, a cold glass with three lemon slices, a full ice cube tray. I don’t understand how it’s all so light.

I’m here for “intimidating” girls. The “I thought you were mean when I first saw you” girls. The girls with “Resting Bitch™” faces. The girls that scare the men that try to catcall them. The girls that stand in their strong ass opinions. The girls that take no shit and get called a Bitch™ for it.