Lifetimes

Every corner will only lead you back to the beginning.
The lines start to melt, hot wax chasing you
to face
scream after scream
of faces you want to believe-
Tell say that you are wrong.

You always are.
At some point, you might even
let the voices crawl closer,
let the scorching wax run over you.

I fought for years,
and I want to say I still am.
Days and weeks and months and years-
A
l
i
f
e
t
i
m
e
of hearing that I am
worthless.

          A lifetime
          of being told I am a sin.
                    A lifetime of knowing I will never succeed.

I fought for years,
and I want to say I still am.

Strangers will not define
my worth.
Bullies cannot know
what my God believes of me.

The only block between success
- and this person who hasn’t even lived yet- is me.

It may take a lifetime.
But, I will work for those years,
learning week in and week out
that I have power.

Day by day,
I am beginning to remember…
My soul was put on this Earth to blaze a trail with the hellfire of my Truth
to light the way for any who may need it.