finding joy

Stand tall. You're going to have stones cast at your knees the moment you begin to walk. Let them pelt. Let your soles squelch, ask for no help as you wade through your own blood. They will call it a weakness. They will convince you, you are of demons and monsters, deacons will prosper from the misfortune that leads your people to tides. No one will tell you it's okay to cry as tides threaten to spill from your deep...deep brown eyes. Surrounding those pupils are pearls even if they seem dark. You are not darkness.

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They will tell you, you are born of lesser blood. Do not believe them. Baby boy you are born of love. You are born to love and keep loving, even when your spirit is thundering and you feel you are plummeting— love will save you. It may take some time. Be patient with this. Through patience you will persist. Keep an eye on your lips and the tongue of gold within, for they will tell you with their silver, you are coal...no. You are untold. You are a new mold in the making. Breaking every notion that says otherwise. You are something else.

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They will convince you, that you are someone else and nothing at the same time. Ingraining lies in the roots that were once your nourishment, halting your flourished scent— you are no weed to be clipped. You're a lotus beneath murky water, brown as your father, awaiting the chance to rise. It's always been time...but no one showed you how. So you will show yourself. You will grow yourself when you find that the brightest light is you. In you. This whole time they've been pretending to not notice, but once it's found, you will never lose the focus. Not locust...you are a butterfly.

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Fly high. You're going to have stones cast at your wings the moment they flutter. Make them miss. Cocoons are temporary and there is much to see.

Be wary of your rage. It is okay to have. For it is easily justified...but they will use it against you. Do not let them. Be prepared to deflect them. Redirect them. Slip, block and check them as many times as you must. Baby boy you must. The only danger in you arises when you are threatened. Show them their error.

Be careful of whom you aim ire at. They will often be a reflection of you. Sometimes the test is in not using your fists. Yet even then, they may wish to persist. So be it. Do not become it.

Whatever you do, remember yourself. Remember the wealth in you. There is much of it and only you can discover it— uncover those long blinded eyes. You are grace and that grace is powerful. You are power and power is beauty. You are so beautiful boy. You are so worthy. You are.

There is so much more to this. It's not about your strength. It's about your spirit. This is what is feared. This is what they will try and frighten out of you. The fight is eternally, internal and no one can train you for the infernal devices that target you. No one can blame you for it either—and yet they will. So through will, you must discipline yourself. Master your spirit and they will never break you. Be precise in your actions and convicted in your (e)motion. You're special.

You are not broken. You are a maker and everything in between. The blood in you is regal and the air in your lungs is rare— you are not broken. You are an epitome of this worlds truth, the proof to the equation of freedom, worth a thousand kings and a million fiefdoms— You. Are. Not. Broken. You are godly.

Your portrait personifies peace under fury. Relief beneath dreary. A beast with their own belly to fill. You(r)'e) portrait is complex. They will say they understand— they can't. They will say they feel for you— they might. They will say they are here for you— few of them will be. Your roots are dark in hue and brightly rich in something unlike any other. Do not let them take that from you. It is yours.

Distant cries of rejection will echo off your shoulders as you walk your path. Ignore them. They are meant for someone who does not believe in what they are. For someone who has been made into a warped perspective of self. That is not you. That is what they want you to be. What they need you to become, should the perpetuation of their own ideals still ring as the false truths they've always been. It is not so simple. It never was.

You are chosen, because you chose it. No one can place you anywhere. Not unless you choose to be placed. So choose to be great. Choose to be the bridge above the chasm— not the chasm. Choose to be the knight who tamed the dragon— not the slayer of the misunderstood. Choose to be understood. You are outstanding.

Show them who you are. Show them why you're here. Make them believe you are all the things you know yourself to be. Life is a constant tunnel, in which you light the way with your own soul. Be bright baby boy. Be kind baby boy. Be true baby boy. Be...all that you are capable of being. Be malleable and there is no end to your future. Death lives in being forgotten. Make them remember.

When the dust settles those stones have become pebbles.

From rust to metal your blood and bones were unyielding from the get go.

Never weak were your links, the scariest monsters tasted defeat.

A beacon to be preached over every and any sea.

Tears on your cheeks, make it all the more sweet.

Can't mind what they think, your silence in such presence is what speaks.

Defined by one thing...what you've found. And that be...