Johnson County Library is pleased to announce that Kaylin Salmen has won our open writing contest on the theme of Bodies with her piece "Self-worth."
Kaylin is a college senior at Kansas State University studying food science. She enjoys being outside, playing dungeons and dragons with friends, and art.
Self-worth
She remarks on the scars on my body
As if they were dents left in discarded
College apartment furniture,
But these marks
can be interpreted like runes
on cuneiform tablets.
These marks are not a curse,
But a prayer.
I know because I put them there,
Along with the tattooed interpretations to the side.
The veins on my thighs read like marble,
So delicate and strong that
Michael Angelo himself
Would be proud to have a piece.
I have the curves of a swelling crescendo
From a grand old orchestra instrument
And buds that poke out in staccato.
My bones will be fossils
Displayed in museums one day,
And my smile will still be ivory white.
Though she may not see my value,
My body could be worth millions
And my history is priceless.