I don’t wake easy, but I rise Coffee in hand, fire in my eyes Still got ghosts that tug my name But I don’t break the way I came I wear new skin, not made to please Don’t owe my smile to anyone’s needs I’ve been the silence, I’ve been the scream Now I walk steady through the in-between I carry myself now Even when I shake Even when the ground’s not flat, And my hands still ache I don’t beg the world to hold me I don’t wait for signs I carry myself now And that weight is mine You wouldn’t know it by the way I laugh But I’ve rebuilt whole cities from ash The mirror don’t lie, but it used to sting Now I meet my eyes and let them sing I don’t pretend that I’m all healed But I don’t bend the way I used to yield I hold my rage like sacred thread Not to cut – but to stitch what bled I carry myself now Even when I shake Even when the ground’s not flat, And my hands still ache I don’t beg the world to hold me I don’t wait for signs I carry myself now And that weight is mine I’m not a phoenix, not a rose Not a metaphor for those Who need me soft to feel okay I’ve earned my edges, let them stay I carry myself now Through storm and fire Not lighter, but louder, Not saved, but wired To keep on walking To keep what’s mine I carry myself now And that feels fine One foot, then the other But now I know: I’m not sinking – I’m just growing slow.
