Drupe from Soma by Ahana

Even the story of my hand
Is different to my other hand
So then am I to understand
I have to be the same
But have the upper hand
Against every other man
That must be unlike any other man

Since closing my eyes
And folding my mind for new creases
I keep the creases

The question arises
And I can't rely on a mind
To find out

How can a body be ugly?
Take it from the top
And why does a body need not to be?
Where does ugly start or stop?

Is it your eyes
Or your mind
Or your thighs
Can you find
The story in a size?

And who am I owing my beauty to
Why must I be beautiful to you for you to trust me
Trust me, I'm beautiful without you

And what can I learn from the animal?
Can anything learn from me?
You made me think I was terrible
I don't have time to despise me

And how can a body be ugly?
How can a body be right?
How does a river go anywhere it shouldn't?
How do we hate mere light?

You’ve made it your mission
To halt all additional life in its tracks
You stab yourself in the back
And I stash my life away from your prying gaze
But I'm gonna try
To live right in front of you

If I'm the fruit and the seed
And no one plants me
I plummet from your tree
Take the wind, the water, a walk
To this body

There's an old way of seeing the forest
And I'm new to it, to being the forest
But while you are ravaging
I will keep foraging, scavenging
Gathering matter and lathering it
Know that it's damaging
To all of your worrying
In a fungal way
Where I love you so much you crumble away

I am an ancestor too
I am an ancestor too
I am an ancestor, you are an ancestor…

Someone left songs in their body for me
And I’m leaving songs in this body for you

• Folk
• United Kingdom