You’ve Forgotten That’s All

She laid crippled, frozen from the mental exhaustion, the emotional pain,

Convinced it’ll never get any better, it will always be the same,

That life’s lessons have destroyed her ability to cope, to rise to her feet,

Turmoil causing her fear to cripple, her breath to shatter, her heart to erratically beat.

******

Until she heard a faint whisper, far off in the distance, gaining cover,

A familiar voice from her past, a feminine coo, a long lost lover,

“Woman, rise from the ashes as the phoenix survivor you were born to be,

Reflect not on the sorrow but on the success you’ve already achieved.”

******

She listened diligently, remembering all she’d battled and won,

Every curse she had broken, every wound healed, pride rising for all she’s done,

Reminding herself that many a time she thought she could handle no more,

Begging for life to be gentle, begging for a more even score.

******

She realises that she has the strength to rise after all,

And now she doesn’t run from change, no, she heeds its call,

Arms open wide to experience life as it comes, the good and the bad,

She laughs at her triumphs and allows the tears to run when she’s sad.

******

That voice gently chides once more, “my dear girl, wear with pride every battle scar,

And every time you view that badge of honour, remember who the fuck you are,”

And with that she threw her doubts into the wind, uplifted and brave,

Knowing she did it; totally alone she was the one to save.

******

From this day forward she vowed, “I won’t allow anyone to destroy my worth,

I was born a warrior, unbeatable, from the day of birth,

Bred with the battle gene to further sustain,

Life will be tempered one day at a time, tethered to me by ball and chain”