Aspiring doctor Sophia dos Remédios spends her days studying medicine at Imperial College London. Her nights, however, are all about putting pen to paper.
Through her writing, the author hopes to create conversations about mental health, queerness, and activism, to encourage others to share their stories, and to erase erasure, and for that we are so grateful.
For our WELLNESS issue, Sophia has penned an incredible poem entitled Self-love. Enjoy!
SELF-LOVE © S. A. dos Remédios
an ode
Past:
To the girl behind the glass:
it will get worse. Then, it will be retold,
get better. Time, clichéd and dense, will pass
and you will love. Origami, unfold
to learn a template and make a dozen
copies. Cranes to move on, fortune tellers
for hope, the blueprints for a message flown
forwards on a plane. Hindsight: concussion,
hangover, mind damp, albums in cellars
clutch faded windows in bone.
Present:
To the lady in the glass
who stares back with those fierce eyes, blue and gold
like topaz and the pyrite of fools: pass
us through parallels, cutting the skein, bold
and furious. Shattered. Wounds glare, frozen,
all but she blind to their weeping. Yells as
loud as the larynx can bounce at cold clone
out of reach, out of touch, stone’s throw, bluffing
like the rest. Strives for authentic, shelters
in the crook of a wishbone.
Future:
To the woman you’ll become:
be sure to love the corpulence of your
home, the skin you own, and rest. Let your lungs
fill and your cardiac ruby swell for
liquid rust. Fall for your feet who carry
the strength above. Love yourself well. You are
your own mother, father and child. Nurture
as you need it. Bless the capillary
blushing the cheeks, kiss the palm’s reservoir
and drink up from your own cure.
If this poem got you feelin’ some kind of way (word to Biebs), you can check out more of Sophia’s work via the gram.
Feature Image by fotografierende on Unsplash
Sophia dos Remédios
She / Her | London | Writer
Sophia is a medical student by day, writer by night, and practising feminist at all times. Through her writing, she aims to open up conversations about mental health, queerness and activism, to encourage others to share their stories, and to erase erasure.
