#insp: mina berg

[illusionswrites]

Swamp creature. All unwashed mouth, all river mud. You overgrown bramble. You outrageous thorn. Unafraid of a little blood. Unafraid of a lot. Opposition trembles before you. Runs away and tells stories of your unholiness. Your dirt and your anger. All your bite. Reputation doesn't precede you; it follows you around with its tail between its legs. It cowers in your shadow. Curse the words of those who tried to bury you. Bless your inability to stay down.

She Of the Woods from Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer

[illusionswrites]

People ask me if the grief has left yet, a question I ask myself every night and I always say the same thing, "Not yet, but then again, I am here, am I not? I am smiling, I am holding myself up despite every stage of terror grief is putting me through. I may be living in a house of cards that its dark hands build but I am trying to stop myself from befriending it, from turning it into a home and for now this is good enough, for me, this is good enough?" And they are always taken aback before they say, "Do you think recovery is possible from great loss?" I smile now, hold this broken body a bit taller and stronger, pull the scaffolding of myself together. "What else do you think keeps me going other than the idea that one day I will heal from this collapsing thing I am trapped in?"

“Am I There Yet?” from Your Heart Is The Sea by Nikita Gill

[illusionswrites]

they tell you grief is like a tidal wave they do not tell you that you will wake up and reach for their smile only to find a blank space where their mouth should be they do not tell you that your clothes will smell like earth and honey and sunshine that weapons will be fashioned out of memories you didn't know you had they do not tell you about the whatifwhatifwhatifs or the sudden realization you will never know their face with age which hits you over supper, on a tuesday, three months later they tell you that time heals everything they do not tell you that forgetting hurts worst of all

grief is not seven stages, it is a hundred on repeat

[illusionswrites]

the most dangerous humans are the women who realize they don't need anyone after facing the hurricane alone

love, & you by gretchen gomez.

[illusionswrites]

call me crazy but i swear you've got a wild and ferocious love sleeping in your smile

magic with skin on by morgan nikola-wren.

[illusionswrites]

mine is a wild beauty pearl claws in its smile you'll know me the moment i set my empty loose in this place i've got tired bramble for hair, and my eyes are feral's favorite color i am an entire bestiary trapped in a body, but no one can find a name for me nonetheless, i'll shoot the bow of my lip across the room and skewer your longing with my kiss

magic with skin on by morgan nikola-wren.

[illusionswrites]

there's an ocean-shaped void in my chest a thousand voices, swimming roaring up between my ears and a tongue run dry of sound           is there a word for needing someone           to tell you it's never too late to           grow up all over again?           is there a word for wondering           how you're ever going to           tumble your way home           if you're not even sure           you've ever been there?

magic with skin on by morgan nikola-wren.

[illusionswrites]

once you work your way under my armor-thick skin, you will find a million love songs swimming through my blood over countless arterial pages of tell-tale ink yes, the truth wrings out of us all, eventually

magic with skin on my morgan nikola-wren.

[illusionswrites]

Girls like you were born to tame dragons, to fight in wars, to lead armies. Girls like you were created to swallow darkness, to quell monsters, to destroy obscurity. Girls like you were given life, to bring tempests and hail gales, unto their enemies. Don't let a king or a prince or a fairytale tell you you are smaller than that or who you are meant to be.

Dragon’s Breath by Nikita Gill

[illusionswrites]

you tell me to quiet down cause my opinions make me less beautiful but i was not made with a fire in my belly so i could be put out i was not make with a lightness on my tongue so i could be easy to swallow i was made heavy half blade and half silk difficult to forget and not easy for the mind to follow

milk and honey by rupi kaur

[illusionswrites]

Girls like Artemis are made of volcanoes and earthquakes, everything that scares people and the world can't handle. They were made for beautiful things, for bigger things. So when people try to put them in a box, try to turn them into something they can understand, girls like Artemis simply fight harder. You see, no matter how much you tell a girl like Artemis to be a lady, to stop her eternal hunt, to understand that the moon is not her true lover, that the way she dresses is not appropriate, she will do exactly how she pleases. Nothing ties her down to the kind of earth you have come from. Nothing makes her want to be less adventurous or give up her eternal search for something to quench her wanderlust.  She is different and she wears her individuality on her worn jacket, the one her mother has tried to throw away countless times but always comes back, her eyes always hunting for something more beautiful than the moment before her right now. She has been hurt before, but always, always has found her way back from the pain. You see, her heart was born a wolf. If anyone has tried to break it with their callousness, it has always gone for their throat.

Artemis by Nikita Gill

[illusionswrites]

You can hate me for it But I am both nightmare and sin I wear thunder underneath this skin I am both storm and calm I am queen of all the hearts I consume You made me this thing that you do not like Now nothing will save you when you look into the mirror when you try to sleep at night

excerpt from Wonderland Villain by Nikita Gill

[illusionswrites]

there exists a fine line between being                                 selfish & being                                 selfless & most days i can't tell which side it is that i'm on. & most days? i don't care.

there are some things i just have to do for me. the witch doesn’t burn in this one by amanda lovelace.

[illusionswrites]

I've been watching stars my whole life and not once has all that space ever made me feel anything but small.

Stargazing from “When the Stars Wrote Back” by Trista Mateer

[illusionswrites]

My witchcraft does not answer to you. I did not come here for your validation, for your words to bring out the best in me, when I am already the best I can be. I came here to tell you my magic is mine and mine alone. You can love me, or hate me, but this is how I was made, thunder skinned and lightning boned.

“What To Say When They Think You Have Come To Them For Validation” from Your Heart Is The Sea by Nikita Gill

[illusionswrites]

I think your bones were made in an elsewhere place. How else does one explain this inconceivable strength that makes you? The way you looked into danger's mouth and saw no cemetery or death. Instead, you carved your name into its teeth with a switchblade, defeated it so effortlessly and threw your head back and laughed. Paradox girl, mighty woman, you are the thing that terrifies them. Both monster and maiden, both cure and poison, all of these things, and at the same time woman. Defined by no man, you are your own story, blazing through the world, turning history into herstory. And when they dare to tell you about all the things you cannot be, you smile and tell them, "I am both war and woman and you cannot stop me."

“An Ode To Fearless Women” from Your Heart Is The Sea by Nikita Gill