From the Shelf

I am not who I thought I’d be

When I was three and counting leaves

 I am not who I prayed to become

When I was once young and dumb

I am not who I had asked to see

 Glazing the mirror at twenty-three

I am who I am, mine, and that’s fine

I am who I’ve drawn with every line

I’ve transformed into what I am today

Not just with hard work but also play

While determination is key, one must also see tranquility

To become someone the world would know?

To become a person with radiant glow,

Alluring and in awe leave them in trance, only admired in a glance?

Or to portray a prized mind,

To be someone distinguished, defined?

To what mold should I fit myself, or should I become someone else?

Naïveté leaves us high and dry, finding vanity is the only prize.

For grips and vices soon forsake but to be oneself frees from break.

Be it a heart or hand or sword, the world is an oyster you are a pearl.

To be admired is not what one should desire,

But rather to kindle an inextinguishable fire.

To set ablaze the hearts of many,

To educate and leave them with plenty.

To make the world once again whole,

To love your neighbor with your soul.

To put yourself high on a shelf and learn to care for someone else.

As you gather dust and begin to decay, you will find beauty in every day

To look through the eyes of something once loved and see its view from its place above

To understand the shelf on which it sat, next to trophies and retired hats

You too may one day understand

What it means to become a woman.