I will not hide my scars away

The way you think I should.

Each scar will always tell the story

Of a day I could…

A day I thought I couldn’t bear

To take another breath:

When life felt so unbearable

That I had nothing left.

But I dug deep, found my way through

The one way I knew how, And after all that fighting

“Hide it” is what I’m hearing now.

I will not run, or cover up;

These scars I’ll never hide,

They tell a part of my story;

A storm that I survived.

And as they fade,

I learn new ways

To heal the hurt within,

But harder days

And battles fought

Stay etched into my skin.

If it makes you feel uncomfortable,

By all means look away

From the scars which show

I fought so hard

To live

Another

Day.

An anonymous poem talking about overcoming the shame of self-harm scars,

We had help from a voice actress and model to express this poem

TRIGGER WARNING: talking about self-harm, no scars are shown

Digital Library of Lived Experience

Video by:

Lois Graham

Voice actress:

Kezz Turner