I Am Strong

I am intelligent.

Who? You?

Are you valedictorian?

Do you have perfect grades?

I don’t think so.

You are not intelligent.

I am pretty.

I’m sorry,

I could not hear you over that zit,

Or your unruly hair,

Or those hairs above your lip,

Or the ones that make two eyebrows to one.

I am a good person.

Tell that to that boy you kicked in sixth grade,

To every friend you have ever hurt,

To your parents,

To your sister.

I am going to make a difference.

Talk to me in ten years

When you have accomplished nothing.

You aren’t good enough

To make any change.

I will be happy.

Happy?

Good luck being happy

With the depression,

The anxiety,

And the low self-esteem

I am not defined by You.

You no longer bring me down.

You make me want to be better,

To be stronger.

I am not the thoughts

That have held me back in the past.

I am the person

That has won this battle,

And has been made stronger

Because of it.

I am strong.