I’m Not a Dainty Lady Tayler Sherstone

In this poem, I talk about assault and trauma, if these are a trigger for you I ask you to please put your mental health first and not to listen to this poem. As I walked down the trail and write this poem on location where McNally Creek meets Cambell River down to the Ocean, as this is a place where I not only grew up but where I currently reside again. White Rock Beach in Boundary Bay holds a lot of memories for me, as some of these came up, the Ocean has always been a place I have gone to when I need space and to process emotions. I am part Okinawan, we are considered children of the Ocean, as legend says that the Gods created the island from the Ocean and five children were born from the first two islanders. My Great Grandmother who came from Okinawa had black tattooed fingers from the war where she was raped, her community marked her as “tainted” so that everyone would know an American soldier had assaulted her. I feel marked some days by my own assaulter after being in an abusive relationship where he has left scars on my body, I have covered many of these with tattoos now which has its own juxtaposition. My Grandmother and her siblings were moved to Hawaii to avoid internment camps and to get away from the racism in Canada, my family has always been closely associated with the water and have found peace with it.