i write about my skin

and tell myself

i am the colour of

thick raw honey

of hot burnt caramel

so, i must be sickly sweet

i tell myself ,

but i am not.

i am not the sweetness in the sugar,

i am not the fluidity of honey

but i am-

the agility of sand,

the fertility of soil

the strength in tree trunks

the spice in cinnamon

my skin is not sweet

it is sweat, sun, scars

and years of feigning the art

of loving it.

and on somedays i do not

love it

i can not.

those days,

i tell myself,

my skin is my skin,

it is not

sugar

-Harleen Osahan 

About Harleen:
Harleen Osahan is a 17 year old writer from Muscat, Oman. She has spent most of her high school life, exploring and experimenting with different forms of writing. She has attended regional and national writing competitions, winning the first prizes. She has been the editor of her school yearbook and e-magazine. She is a firm believer in the politics of poetry and considers poetry as means to mobilisation of the oppressed.

 

Artwork by Julio Kirk.