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By Virginia Vigliar

in you I learned to love my self
and discover my body’s pathways
in you I cried rivers that I
judged as too dry
whilst you just kept on holding me
in you I fell in love and out of pain

my temple of safety when the streets were a tornado
you watched me dance into the night countless times
and listened as voices raised higher in you as I spoke of
what it feels to be a woman

I lit the smoke of my magic inside your walls
and found the spirited women that lived inside me
the ancestral pain that pressed against my bones
you saw me paralysed and offered me movement
you caught me in confusion and held the space for clarity

everyone who saw you fell in love with your smell
you made a jungle that thrived despite my absences
you never crumbled at the sound of my music,
instead, you made me move with it
in you I found comfort and acceptance of my multitudes

you watched strangers become friends
always faithful
always present
never a judge, always an observer
from you I learned what it means to receive without asking

and in the darkness
you let the light through that reminded me
that we can always be reborn

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Author:

Virginia Vigliar is a poet, writer, editor and activist with roots in her pocket. She has made five places her home in the last ten years, and is now based in Barcelona. In her writing, she explores themes such as social justice, human conditioning, womanhood and feminism and believes that writing can speak loudly against violence, sexism and misogyny, and in favour of our bodies, social justice, and respect for our nature. Find her on Instagram @vivivigliar or check out her website virginiavigliar.com.

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This poem is a part of the DISTANCED project.