No one’s property

It took generations

Without scratching the surface

I know of three, 

I know there was more

Many came and went 

Many had their names erased

My strength built over centuries

Waiting patiently

I have learnt I am the past

How arrogant I have been

Knowing nothing of waiting

I took it, as if it was mine

Although alone we never stand

Generations pulsing through my veins

I am not myself today

I am the collective yesterday

Loudly crashing in

Undeterred

I’m here

And I can declare I belong to none

A woman built from the scars of history

-Camille Delaquise

This poem appears in The Precipice, Camille’s third contemporary poetry collection. No one’s property explores inherited identity, historical erasure, and female self-possession — reclaiming the self not as an isolated individual, but as a living force shaped by generations and belonging to no one.