Growing Up Woman

 

In this life I’ve searched for princes and kissed frogs.

I’ve tasted the stench of death and rose like a flower in the midst of a desert.

I’ve carried torches that should have been buried. 

I’ve fought for equality and have yet to win the war. 

I’ve cried for babies and have felt the tiny hand of love burrowed inside. 

I’ve lost lovers who vowed to love me forever, but forever never came. 

I’ve rushed happiness and forgot to live in my own. 

I’ve run barefoot in the sand of hope, feeling every grain slide through my toes, uneager to hold on. 

I’ve persevered through hate and shadows of anger only to find that anger was inside of me.  I’ve not let it go. 

I’ve trusted too much and gained very little.  I’ve smiled while I cried.  I’ve danced when the odds stacked themselves eagerly against me. 

I’ve longed for a mother’s, “I love you,” and waited for a dad’s hug on an uneasy day. 

I grew weary of waiting. 

I am woman flowing aimlessly in the wind.  Soft.  Durable. Delicate. Timeless.