Coming Home

By Lucipurr Morningstar

I learned from a young age that my body was not my own.  

The filthy hands of my father.  

The teenage boys who told me to 'just let it happen.'

The pastor who taught me that my value was in my body; what it could carry, how it could submit to a man.  

The men who took silence as a 'yes.'

I never got the privilege of learning to feel at home in my body.  

It was not a home.  

It was a house that could be rented out against my will to the highest bidder; the man with the most imposing presence, with the most power to wield.  

I thought I would spend my life living in a body that did not feel like my own.  

That I would learn to accept the distance between myself and my flesh.  

Because sometimes staying alive means accepting that you can never go home.  

Burlesque has taught me that my body is my own.  

That I am the door, the lock, the key.  

I choose who gets to see me, touch me, taste me.  

The reveals are not me taking off my clothes; I am showing off my home on my own terms, standards, and conditions.  

Burlesque has taught me how to make a house a home. 

I am in my flesh, I am home. 

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Lucipurr Morningstar (she/her) is a queer burlesque performer located in Louisville, KY. Lucipurr is a fan of all things spooky, including horror, Halloween, (probably) haunted antiques, and cryptids. This love can be found in her performances as well as her daily life. She currently resides with Uranium, her Maine Coon, and is actively working each day to build a beautiful, weird, and whimsical life that she loves.

Follow Lusipurr on Instagram: @lucipurr_morningstar_burlesque