When I was a child,

I thought the world was a sidewalk

and that I was a lone dandelion seed trying to take root in concrete.

My parent's divorce, the man that molested me, and the murder of a father figure so close to me

were unbecoming of a winter child, 

so full of love and bad fortune.

 

When I was a child,

I thought every tear was betrayal,

so I weaved wicked webs of comfortable lies,

to prove to the world I was just as fine as I claimed to be.

 

When I was a child,

a lone dandelion seed,

as a sun bore down in a near withering heat,

I thought life was a horror movie, that I, a survivor, 

could not beat. 

 

But as a cool breeze, in the mid-day heat, 

so to would I find,

that you are not defined,

by the past that has made you refined.

 

A lone dandelion seed,

that had been tossed around the breeze,

had found it's way to a serene river bank overlooking the sky.

As I began to take root, 

despite the winters that I faced,

I took root, and had begun to bloom.

 

As an adult, 

I am a dandelion,

in a sea of gold,

beneath the stars,

with my head held high,

and my roots down deep, 

I am thankful for all that has happened to me. 

 

Because without the winter's cold,

or the sun's blistering heat,

I would never have been the woman,

I feel I am meant to be. 

 

And I know one day, 

When I grow old,

it'll be time for someone else to start anew,

and I pray that where I ended up,

will give someone the strength and perseverance to continue on,

and I pray that the world is seen as beautiful,

even if it's just to one single flower,

even if it's just to one single person,

at a time.