Borrowed light

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*Picture is my own. Turned into a silhouette with AI*

the silhouette of my body
is a quiet shoreline at dusk
all curve and hush
outlined in borrowed light

it does not need to be seen
it simply stands
a dark bloom against the evening
soft thunder held in stillness

my shoulders are small horizons
my hips a slow question
the night leans in to answer

in shadow 
I am less detail
more feeling
a whisper shaped like a woman
a flame without flame
a story told only in outline

and somehow
in the absence of light
I become entirely myself

35 thoughts on “Borrowed light”

  1. You are absolutely stunning! I have longed to be able to write something this beautiful and this good, and you just did such a fabulous job here and absolutely nailed it! Most definitely, this is an embodiment of beauty! I loved the theme, and the adventure you took us through here! I cannot say enough how good this is, and it’s going to be an absolute fucking hit!

    I can’t point out a favorite line because it’s all insanely gorgeous from start to finish! Well, i guess I can say it now, this is my new all time favorite one from you! Hands down! It’s not even close. 💞👏🏻

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    • Thank you so very much. This means so much to me! Your continued support is something that I will never take for granted. Keep being the amazing human that you are, and keep showing this world your amazing soul!

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  4. This poem is again, another really well written piece. It’s the last thing I’m reading before going to sleep, and the lines “in shadow I am less detail// a whisper shaped like a woman” are good ones to accompany me to sleep ❤

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  7. Haunting yet gorgeous. To feel comfortable in our own skin is, ironically, left in the hands of others. This simple, yet reflective exercise of creating the silhouette and writing about it, has shifted the power from others to yourself.
    I have long hoped for you to see yourself as I see you. It is my most sincerest wish. Because in the “more feeling” you are indeed “entirely yourself.”

    But your poem has offered me a new perspective…I hope you feel about yourself the way I feel about you.

    Sincerely.

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    • Thank you for reading my words with such tenderness. You always have the most beautiful and thoughtful comments.

      I think I’ve spent so much of my life trying to become visible through other people’s eyes that I forgot my own gaze mattered. The silhouette exercise wasn’t just about tracing a body; it became a way of tracing the stories I’ve carried, the voices I’ve believed, and the quiet places where I’ve disappeared from myself.

      Your wish, that I might one day see myself as you see me, maybe. But perhaps the truest gift is what you offered at the end: the hope that I might come to feel about myself what you already feel about me. It isn’t about borrowing your eyes forever; it’s about learning to trust my own.

      Thank you for holding that hope for me until I was ready to begin holding it for myself.

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  11. This is breathtaking, Jenn. What moved me most is how this piece quietly reminds us that identity isn’t found in how brightly we’re seen, but in who we are when the world grows still. There’s a tenderness woven through every line, and yet there’s strength too. It feels like an invitation to stop chasing perfection and simply inhabit ourselves. Beautiful, just like you!!! 🤍

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