They’re just words
It’s just ink on my skin
It’s not like my entire world has shifted
But you see
These two words
This beautiful marking
Is everything
Not because of their meaning to me
But because of the battle I won
The second that needle touched me
I won
The voice in my head that calls me a failure
That taunts and stabs
And says I won’t go through with it
Did not beat me
Like it has so many times before
I went through with it
I won
And there are more battles to fight
And maybe I’ll lose some
But right now
Right now I’ll revel in the victory

Rachel Waring is a sophomore at Christopher Newport University. She is studying for her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Philosophy and Religious Studies.