My body doesn’t work – they say –
to please the male gaze.
My body doesn’t work
to cope with the 8h-per-day
working schedule.
My body doesn’t work
to be drafted,
to give birth
or to please
whoever demands
to be pleased.
My body is a dividing line
between my light
and the world.
But my body works
to dance, badly and clumsily,
under the rain
when nobody is watching.
It works
to punch,
to save itself.
It works
to grow fruits,
to get muddy,
to taste the wind.
My body works
as a lair
for non-normative
pleasures.
While my sex is a hibernating winter,
my nerves are a hieroglyph
of orgasms
randomly spread
throughout the skin.
My body doesn’t serve any purpose,
it doesn’t serve anybody
because it is not built for serfdom.
No body is.
My body is built
to enjoy witchcraft,
to hug the others,
to give birth to fantasies,
to swallow life until it’s over.
My body serves ME.
I am its purpose.
It works to heal me.
To heal with and for my people.
A purpose for which society,
the same one that has always named
and built us disabled,
has never been able
at all.
Title: TW. Ableism.
Poet Name: Cénix C. Callejo.
Long story short, this poem was written in 2017, at a homeless day shelter, to remind myself that I –a violence survivor- as well as any person in any difficult or similar situation, was worthy and deserved the job I was denied, the home I wasn’t able to afford and the safety I wasn’t guaranteed with. I hope others can find comfort in it and it can help them to navigate their own paths whenever it gets tricky, and I also hope it can be a tiny contribution towards a much needed social change.
Callejo García C. C. (2020). TW. Ableism. Disability Justice & Violence Prevention Resource Hub. Retrieved from: https://indisabilityjustice.org/insert-publication-link
Name: Cénix C. Callejo.
Pronouns: They/them.
Bio: Cénix is a biologist and an environmental activist. They are a MSc in Biology, a Wildlife Rehabilitator and Environmental Educator Specialized in Grassroots Community Conservation, at different farmers and indigenous-led conservation projects. They have studied and volunteered/worked within the Environmental Field at Spain, UK, Greece, Peru and Ecuador.
Besides Wildlife Protection, Cénix has also been and is actively involved within several activism fields, regarding Mental Health, Disability, Survivorship, Homelessness and Transfeminism, amongst others.
After several episodes of male violence and mobbing linked to a severe work accident at their last job placement in 2019, they are currently being hosted at Spain, recovering while working and expanding their studies, seeking to expand their working opportunities in order to be able to fully afford again their own room and life expenses.
Photo:
[PHOTO DESCRIPTION: A frontal picture of Cénix, a white person with black curly hair to the shoulders, from head to knees. They are at a forest. Their right hand is grabbing a branch tree, their left arm is hanging. They are wearing grey sports trousers, a colourful shirt with flowers and a pink sweater. They are smiling and wearing black and white glasses. They are also wearing a red fanny pack with a pin of a yellow daffodil. There is a big rock behind them and green trees at the back.]
Where to read more: You can find more about their poetry (in Spanish) or contact them at their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Oniroteca/