Wicked words

You whip me wrathfully with your wicked words. Words like useless and underachiever. Words like lazy and unmotivated.

Sometimes those wicked words wrap themselves around me and settle in deep as though I had walked through a barb wire fence, metal carving into flesh.

Sometimes those wicked words wander through me leaving a trail of tremors and uncertainty so deep seated that they're still there tomorrow.

Sometimes those wicked words wear me down and make me wish I were anywhere but with you, more specifically somewhere with sand, an ocean and a gorgeous sunset.

Sometimes those wicked words wrongfully grip me as though they were the hand of a bodybuilder who had just finished drinking their pre-workout and were primed and ready to go.

Sometimes those wicked words want nothing more but to drag me down even deeper than where I have already been.

Not today.

Today, those wicked words revive me as though I were a phoenix reaching the end of it's life cycle only to begin anew.

Today, those wicked words light a fire that you've never seen in me. A fire that doesn't burn, but instead warms everything around it and creates life you may never see again.

Today, though wicked words are said, what I hear instead of the endlessly echoing "Give up" is the relentless, restless, "Try harder".

Today, though wicked words are said, what I hear instead of the dull dreading of my presence is the world wishing that I stay strong.

Today, though wicked words are said, what I hear instead of the songstress siren telling me I can't do it is the broken battalion behind me rallying for one last stand.

So whip me with your wrathfully wicked words because I can take it. Tomorrow might not be like today, but I'll still be here and if you find that surprising, then I guess you just don't know me.