"Self-Portrait #2" by Niña Terol-Zialcita | Correction ink on board (2012)

First Wednesdays of the month are Poetry Slam nights for my favorite hangout, Sev’s Café (which I affectionately call my “unofficial living and dining room”). The “slam” consists of a competition for amateur spoken word artists and poets, while the open mic portion–as the name suggests–welcomes anyone and everyone who wishes to share a piece (or more!).

Here is a piece I’ve done for both the slam and our open mic sessions. I wrote it shortly after supertyphoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda) flattened many coastal towns in the Visayas region in the Philippines. It was meant to encourage the typhoon’s survivors, but as I was writing it I also realized that I needed to write it in order to deal with my own brokenness. (And who among us isn’t broken in some way, right?)

I unfortunately don’t have a clear-enough video recording of me performing the piece, but once I do I’ll also post it here.

"Self-Portrait #2" by Niña Terol-Zialcita | Correction ink on board (2012)
“Self-Portrait #2” by Niña Terol-Zialcita | Correction ink on board (2012)

YOU ARE NOT BROKEN

by Niña Terol-Zialcita

 

Repeat after me:

 

YOU. ARE NOT. BROKEN.

 

I know that, right now,
It’s pretty hard to believe.
After all,
Didn’t a storm just
Wash away
Everything you had?
Left you with
Absolutely nothing
Except what’s standing
On your feet?

 

Didn’t a
Global catastrophe
Crush you–
Shatter you
Rip apart your
Hopes and dreams, and
Bring you to your knees?

 

You feel broken,
All right.
Pretty damn
Ripped
And bruised
And pounded
To bits.
And abso-fuckin’-lutely
Broken.

 

BUT YOU ARE NOT.

 

What you
Need to know
Is that the very same
World
That you fear
Is the very same world
That is cheering–
Pushing you
To go on,
Believing
In everything you’ve got–
Even when you think
You’ve got
Abso-fuckin’-lutely
Nothing left.

 

Because
You’ve got heart
You’ve got soul
You’ve got strength
You’ve got
The fucking courage
To stand back up
On your feet
And the resilience
To tell the
Whole wide
Fucking World

 

NO ONE–
ABSOLUTELY NO ONE–
WILL BRING ME DOWN
BECAUSE MY FAITH
IS STRONGER
THAN YOUR WINDS
AND MY GOD IS
STRONGER THAN
ANY FUCKING STORM.

 

YOU CAN PUSH ME,
DROWN ME–
YOU CAN TRY
TO SHRED ME TO BITS.
BUT YOU. WILL NOT. BREAK ME.

 

YOU WILL NOT BREAK ME.

 

I am bruised, yes–
Scarred, forever–
I am writhing
In pain
And screaming
For redemption
But I remain
WHOLE.
As sure as
My soul
Still sings
As sure as
My body feels
The stings–

 

I AM HERE
I AM WHOLE

 

I have fears
But I, too,
Have hope

 

And I
AM NOT
BROKEN.
AND YOU
DON’T HAVE
THE POWER
TO BREAK ME.

 

Take a step back
Look at yourself
And know
That you are whole
Because
You are loved
Whether you see it
Or not
Whether you know it
Or not

 

YOU ARE LOVED

 

YOU ARE WHOLE

 

YOU
ARE NOT
BROKEN.

 

If you liked this piece and would like to share it, feel free to post a comment here or tweet me at @ninaterol. I’d be happy to share it, given the proper attribution. 🙂

 

Want to see more spoken word pieces from the Philippines, check out the YouTube channel of SPEAK PHILIPPINES (SPEAK Phils). You can also click on their Facebook page. You can also catch us TONIGHT at SEV’s CAFE, at the basement of Legaspi Towers 300, Vito Cruz corner Roxas Boulevard, Malate, Manila. Visit the Facebook page to view the map and other event and reservation details. 🙂
Speak Phils
Communicator, Connector, Changemaker | Co-founder and Chief Fireball of Kick FIre Kitchen | Prolific writer and public speaker | Startup mentor and educator