I wake up,
not waiting for the world to decide
what I should be.
No applause.
No spotlight.
Just me,
in this skin,
walking through another day.
I don’t need your validation,
don’t need to fit into your polished box
with a bow on top.
I’ve seen too many people twist themselves
into someone else’s reflection
but I stand here,
rough around the rims,
grinning like the fissure in the sidewalk
that refuses to be smoothed over.
I’ve learned that the only voice
I have to listen to
is the one inside my own head,
and it’s loud enough,
thank you very much.
It tells me,
"you’ve got this,"
even when the world says I don’t.
No shiny armor,
no borrowed words,
just me,
with a crooked smile
and my hands full of life
that I’m not apologizing for.
You can keep your judgments,
your polished expectations.
I’ve got the scars to prove
I’ve fought through every version of “not enough,”
and still,
here I stand,
enough as I am.
©umclite
U