the sum of my parts
I am more than the sum of my parts.
I am more than bleeding nail beds and silver scars.
I am more than unsent letters with no return address.
I am more than chapped lips and wringing hands.
I am more than untethered shrapnel.
(And I'll always be those things; I'll always bite my cuticles and disappoint people -- "hi im jade and i'm out of breath from keeping up with who i'm supposed to be")
But I know that I am more than the sum of my parts.
Because the freckles on my nose, arrange themselves in constellations
And I know that the stars fell and landed on my cheeks.
Because my eyes tear up and spill
The same water that carved mountains.
Because yesterday I saw a flower
Growing out of a guttural crack in the polluted pavement
And I saw the shape of my scraped knees
In the pattern of its petals
And I am more than the sum of my parts
Because I kiss my friends' papercuts
And I feel the night sky in my chest.
Because I write rambling poetry on napkins at midnight
And fall asleep with my arms clutched at my chest.
And i am more than the sum of my parts
Because the world stops spinning when I hold my breath
And the walls of my bedroom are stained with ink and dreams and melting candle wax.
Because my eyeliner smudges and the ground shakes when i walk.
and because of you
I am more than the sum of my parts.