Body Shaming?

I am who I am as no less though no more
Than a jumble of numbers or a credit score
My body is only a part of my total being
More guts and heart than what you are seeing
In the very core of this vessel cased in skin
There's a holy place my babies formed in
The stretchmarks across my belly and thighs
Are the stripes of a tigress this I realize
Melasma formed on my face as my babies grew
In safety and security so that they never knew
Never knew the pain and all the sleepless nights
Their mother bore to give them their human rights
Human rights to be born in the safety of such a place
Where some only care to have their baby's life erased
It has been a few years since each baby's birth came
Now the place where they formed is subject to body shame
Disregard the excitement at expecting each child
Milk flowed from both breasts as hunger was satisfied 
The body shamers will only condemn spent belly and breasts
That were once the sweetest haven for baby heads to rest
Body shamers who are supposed to appreciate her sacrifice
While the mean words were said to hurt her and to criticize
Make no mistake oh ye who think you are such perfection
It's the ugliness of a prideful one with a dark soul infection
She earned her stripes and womanly belly that you so despise
She has earned her queenly status to which she will humbly rise
For the tigress she is, in her imperfect body with a strong spirit
If you dare body shame her she roars and you will surely hear it
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Hello, to you, reading this. Yes, I wrote this. Yes, I have endured the pain of body shaming. 
A daughter, 2 boyfriends as well as a few miscellaneous haters who were supposed to love me. In their imperfection, they took it upon themselves to body shame me.
Did it hurt?
Hell, YES!
Did I take it to heart?
I admit, momentarily, I did.
Then, I considered the sources. None of these body shamers had ever grown a child inside their body with all the extreme changes as the baby grew. They had never experienced the hormonal changes, the metabolic slowdown nor the joy of creating life. Thankfully, the joy, the agony, the pain, the relief was all mine.

These are not stretch marks, they are the tigress stripes I earned!