Hi everyone,
Welcome to 365 Days of Poetry & Honesty! I hope this past week has been kind to you <3 It's been a tough time recently but for the fact that I exist, that I’m alive and breathing, I celebrate and I give thanks. It's interesting, I used to wish I was an atheist because my belief in God and Christianity was a big source of distress. But this year in particular, I’m not afraid to pray and I’ve had to. I felt really affected by that Euphoria episode where Ali tells Jules that she needs something to believe in, and I realised that I was needed something to believe in too, something bigger than me and greater than all of us. Now I have my faith, and I keep it protected. I spent a big part of my childhood and adolescence at church, and it always felt like I had to leave myself at the door. So I was afraid that any step back into believing would mean having to sacrifice some part of me. But in my opinion, that's not love so that's not God. And now, I work at trusting that the Universe sees me, knows me & knows my heart and that God is here to guide me and comfort me, not judge me or shame me. Now, I find myself using my voice, directing my words to the sky, the wind, the birds, anything that carries, and I’ve gotten through some horrible nights because of that belief and that faith and sometimes it’s enough to hear my own voice acknowledge that I’m not okay because I do a lot of pretending.
Anyway I’ve got 9 poems for you today, including a couple of collages! I hope you enjoy them :)
Two songs also! Both forever favourites!
Monday
The first two lines I took from @peopleiveloved on Instagram. I read it and it got me thinking, so I wrote this poem. I’ve included the post below!
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Two poems today! Both mean a lot to me.
Friday
Saturday
This poem I wrote for my dad. And I hope that one day I can share it with him.
Sunday
Thank you for reading!
I want to end the newsletter with a song – ‘Peng Black Girls’ by ENNY & Amia Brave.
My tumblr archive is where I get my images from and I came across this post I made when I was 15 and my blog was my diary. It's quite sad but I also find it amusing because it's distinctively my voice! I’ve come a long way from where I was as a teenage girl and I think she’d be proud of me and who I am today!
Thank you for reading my poetry. I hope this next week brings you plenty blessings <3
With Love,
Oyinda