Nabeela Azra Rasul

We let our love blind us to all the apparent signs. You never saw the end coming. 

But I felt it. I felt the final storm.

You only want me when I say yes…Yes to your plans, however absurd. Yes to your undying lust for my words and stories and intelligence.

Space was our enemy. Space was the battle life kept deciding we kept needing to fight Until suddenly…one day you laid your armor down.

Cry, eat, stay in bed, play hooky, whatever works for the first few days is fine. It’s your right to deal with heartbreak however you like. But give yourself a timeline to be sad.

Women are trained from young ages to wear make-up, to conceal blemishes, to exercise—not just for health benefits, but so that they can be thinner (because as a woman you can always be thinner)—to accentuate their bust and waistlines, to tighten up their glutes, and to get a “swimsuit body.” As a woman, you are defined by your image, and everything else is secondary.