What They Don't Know

To some people, poems are just short or long verses that old guys who had nothing to do with their time wrote.

But to me, it was more than they could ever know.

It was a chance.

It was a chance to be the circle that I am instead of the square the world said I should be.

It was a chance to have a voice in a place where I was always told to be quiet,

And it was a chance to stand out rather than always fit in.

But that’s not the end or even near to it.

It was a hope.

It was a hope because every time I read it or wrote my own I felt strength.

That strength made me feel like I could take on the world and come out alright.

That strength gave me the ability  to fight for something, anything rather than take everything lying down.

That strength was the reason that I could hope for better days, nights, months , and years.

But it didn’t stop there.

It was relief.

It was relief because I suddenly felt like I was no longer alone.

It was relief from all the feelings that kept me trapped inside my own body.

It was relief from the burdens of never measuring up to the expectations that was laid in front of me.

But yet still there was more.

It was peace.

It was the peace that gave me the calm to sleep at night.

It was the peace that I found within myself which I so desperately needed to end my personal war.

It was the peace of knowing that it if I live a honest, noble, and admirable life that it would be enough, and it would be ok.

It is more.

It is the reason I choose to live rather than die.

It is knowing that there is so much happiness and contentment in taking a risk rather than just being able to survive.

It does not judge or shut me down or take pieces of my innocence without a sound.

It has never passed me by, when I needed some help, and it has never struck fear into me or given me any doubt. 

Poetry is strength, hope, relief, peace, chance, love, laughter, and much more than words can describe.

And it is the ability to stare down life with its choice to stay down and give up and have the will to pick.... 

Fight.