We Rise

Such a time comes in a young person's life
when suddenly the gray sky isn't important,
the sun may hide behind the clouds
or the humidity may fill the air, cause
you to swim through it. Rather, it is once
night falls that the tepid wind crawls
over the skin, prickles the hair on your arm.

You walk with your head high above your shoulders,
with the grace of a black crane, knowing
you are you, that every scar scattered into your skin
is only that, a mark. Those marks do not define you.
You choose to walk with your tail tucked,
head down, back slouched. But there are some of us
who do not settle or bow our heads in shame.

We stand tall, backs straight, a perfect balance.
We have been through more than our lives should,
but it is a higher power that knows we can do it.
We do not accept arrogance or naivety, we rise
above. Always pushing, always trying and always
standing together as one.