The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2022 - Issue 31

bitetheatre replays unrealistic subjections, and can destroy rather than enhance our beautiful imperfections. Is vanity a blessing or curse? When looks begin to fade, some women resort to unconventional ways to retain their radiant beauty. Self-love helps you to shine and be a light on others. Our inner confidence will boost and elevate us to success. Otherwise, we’ll break down from not releasing ourselves from the vanity pause. ‘My Heart Cripples’ looks at past centuries when people’s freedom was abducted, destructed, corrupted and transformed by bloody hands that treated the natives as foreigners in their land. She describes the seeming exchange of lands for bibles and the conquerors’ plans to take over our thrones, royalty and achievements. Our minds were captured and condi- tioned through conversion, affecting the future generations to come. The poet pays tribute to Phillis Wheatley, the first African-American au- thor of a published book of poetry, who demonstrated our mental capacity to learn, flourish and excel in everything we set our minds. She shunned Thomas Pownall, a British colonial official and politician; Benjamin Rush, one of the founding fathers of the United States; Thomas Jefferson, the third US President and other masonic ‘roaches’ for their contribution to oppressing the Black man through globalisation. The last narration, ‘Broken’, tells of a woman’s traumatic life experiences. She “grew up distraught and apprehensive”, crying in waterfalls that no- body visually saw. Her silent secrets made her heart spiritually malnour- ished and prevented her from flourishing, so she remained bruised, worn- out and broken. She experienced being beaten and cheated on, constantly crying and weeping from her dissolution. Promiscuous with the wrong men, her soul is weakened, and parts of her die inside every night. Through these episodes, this woman has never known pure love. Thus, she cannot love herself. Instead, hatred and impulsive secrets poison her heart, and she numbs it with sedating narcotics to free her mind and detach her soul from the physical realm. But when she comes down from the high, she is once again lonesome and scared. She screams out to God, ‘where are you?’ His still, gentle voice soothes her, but she cannot immediately accept his loving-kindness, believing she is still hallucinating. Soon, she accepts self-love and God’s love, hitting her heart profound- ly and making her soul collapse spiritually. Her heavy burdens, regrets, suffering and negativity eventually fade away, making her feel lighter and more alive. “I choose to love myself like I’ve never been loved before and love others even when I do not receive it.” Whilst it’s wonderful to be loved and cherished by others, we should love and accept ourselves to bring more of it into our lives. https://www.instagram.com/psalmist.poet