Duy Nguyen

A trial of endurance without an end

This body;

Traversed through every obstacle,

from any god – in any paradise.

Past the waves that have sunk so many bones,

and between the gusts that have swept countless feet.

It runs a race,

Unmeasurable.

A trial of endurance without an end.

This journey can not be bought and booked.

A view without a choice,

I only see different shapes of luck.

Bad and good, and everything in gray.

This body;

Wounded, bruised, and battered.

Even my ancestors wouldn't recognise its form.

It walks a rhythm every molecule inside resists.

Its very existence; outrageous, a miracle, and a joke.

A very dark joke which keeps reminding me;

Even in the vastness of the ocean,

blood is still thicker than water.

This body;

A gift from my mother,

and her mother,

and every mother before.

A privilege and a burden.

A solid mass to carry,

yet I remain light.

This lump of flesh and bones is merely a host of my will.

A testament to resolution and grit.

This body;

Sunburned through the thousand rays beyond the clouds.

No amount of shade will hide who I am.

Here, everything seems to be the same color.

This body;

So intricately woven together,

it's not even demystified by evolution.

Where I go,

my body follows.

Where my body goes,

I go beyond.

You may restrict my body,

but I am in control.

This body;

limiting in every way.

My skin,

My hair,

My eyes,

By ones and zeros,

And,

even my scaly metallic tongue.

I care and I cry;

Every tear – vertically,

A statement of determination and desire.

Any pressure you put on my flesh is an invisible exhibition.

My mental display;

hidden somewhere among the mountain tops.

This body;

It carries me above every bump,

up any steps,

over any bridge.

Any prison imposed will be sustained,

any lifetime sentence given will never hurt as much as words.

The light you project on me is a reflection of self.

I choose to be a room of self-imposed ecstasy,

A storage of never-ending bliss,

I am a fantasy,

to which only I hold the key.