Ecthed in Strength

By Aishna Shobhawat

When you see my body,

Don't let it confound.

These marks aren't accidents,

They're stories are profound.

Don’t ask why they’re here,

Or how they could mend.

They’re not wounds of despair,

But battles that defend.

Not shadows of failure,

But flames that ignite.

Proof I kept standing

Through the hardest of nights.

I don't flaunt these traces,

Yet I stand unbowed.

Not for the scars themselves,

But for surviving the clouds.

Your choice now, to care or depart,

I've no need to persuade.

I’ve risen far beyond

The bounds your judgment weighed.

By Aishna Shobhawat