Lena Mubsutina
Shedding Self
Conceal your past
and the markers that
lead the way to it.
Pretend your eyes and hair
come from a place people romanticize
instead of one they mock and fear.
Look away from the injustices done to the people
you’ve left behind;
avoid any suspicion of kinship.
Never admit your longing for the food and dress of your childhood;
eat and clothe yourself like those you want to be,
no matter how wrong it feels,
and ignore the pain that barrels through your body
when remnants of your past find their way to you
after all these years.
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