Head in the Clouds

I didn’t rise clean, I rose honest, From the quiet where the old names died. Every lesson left a fingerprint, Every tear taught me how to survive. I stopped begging mirrors for mercy, Stopped asking wounds to explain, Now I walk with the fire that hurt me And call it my strength, not my shame. I was breaking, yeah—but I was listening, There’s a difference they never tell you about. This is inner growth— Not pretty, not slow, It’s the kind of becoming You earn on your own. I didn’t bloom for applause or a crown, I grew roots in the dark So I wouldn’t fall down.