Scars are beautiful.
You bled,
you prayed,
you stitched yourself
when the world had already written your ending.
They are proof
you survived what most couldn’t,
you rose where others collapsed,
you kept breathing even when breathing felt violent.
I’m more proud of you
when you don’t hide them,
when you wear them like rings of fire
instead of chains of shame.
They are not flaws,
they are scripture carved into skin,
a mark of your strength.
I am proud of you
for living unwashedly,
for walking into the daylight
with nothing concealed.
Ariana Afrin Emu is a 21-year-old poet currently working on her debut collection, Doesn’t Make Any Sense. Her work has been featured in multiple online journals, including Poetry Potion, Cold Moon Journal, Screaming Cicadas, Mawbiz and others. Ariana’s writing explores love, loss, identity, and longing through emotionally raw, lyrical storytelling that blurs the line between memory and imagination.