The Scarlet Letter

Once upon a time, in a forest of darkness and truth,
I wore my scarlet letter as a crown.
It was not sewn there by choice,
but burned into my skin by those who believed silence was law.
They mistook my girlhood for an altar,
my body for their playground.

I learned to speak
even when my voice was only a whisper to the sky.
To love all my colors, even the darkest.
To plant gardens in barren ground,
to stitch my life back together
thread by thread, in my own name.

The apples wait in their basket,
but I bite only with my eyes wide open.
I have tasted the truth,
and it is sweet with freedom.

No one’s tale but my own.
I am my own letter,
my own prayer,
rooted in deep waters,
bending for no one but the wind itself,
dancing with my flames over an ocean of eternal passion.
I rise only by my own light —
and I will write my own ending.”** 🍎✨