Nest
Pride on the Page Day #21
Each of the mini-essays I’m publishing for the month of June are part of a creative challenge to share joy during Pride. You can find out more in the link below. You can even participate, if you’d like!
Wild Lion*esses Pride from Jay
21. Nest
I made a nest of my body once. Twice. You can still see the marks it left, the stretch marks, the scars, the way I flinch at some memories—not all, just some. I was a home to tiny fingers and toes, to kicking feet, to heads butting bladder and spleen (what is a spleen anyway?).
But I hid this nest. I wanted to keep it safe, and so I used my body to hide my body, my self as shelter and protection, my identity as cover. I honestly can’t explain how I survived.
I wish I could tell you more, but it’s still too hard.
Your trans friend,
Robin
Robin, you see the stretch marks and feels the inner stretch. They are who you are. Fully. Not either or. Both and. Everything belongs to you and everything can be celebrated. Just because some narrow-minded people cannot comprehend that the man they see can also be a mother having given birth to beautiful human beings, that is not yours to carry. You are all of it.
Thank you for having shared this tender and vulnerable story with us.
Giving up part of yourself to nurture part of yourself is a selfless act of love.