If they could just see me now/standing here
taller than they ever thought I could stand/believing in myself
despite all those frozen years they laughed at me
like I wasn’t even there. This mirror now shines/no more fear
because I have risen through the broken boards
with sacrifice and hidden tears.
There is now a rhythm to my smile and a balance in my eyes
as ahead of me is an endless sky constructed with victory
and a resilience fueled for me to fly. I still see them/every
laugh who abused me with the brutality
of judgment and beat me down beyond my own recognition
of reality threatening to make me a forgotten casualty.
But what they instilled in my was a mortality
to define who I was into a greater version of who I am.
I still hear them/every blank stare
who cursed the sweat of my soul until I was no longer whole.
But they instilled in me a goal to grow a spirit of defiance
defeating the violence of their hurtful language.
And I can still feel them/in every vision I once cried/within
every stain my pain has dried and written
through each memory of self hatred that has never died.
They couldn’t completely break me
no matter how hard they tried.
If they could just see me now/standing here
prouder than they ever thought I could stand/redefining my name
molded from the embarrassment and shame. I now see a face
chiseled by inspiration and sculptured with gratification.
So I can only say ‘thank you’ to them because as I stand,
I see in me standing as a stronger man.
© 2010
Tarringo T. Vaughan
