she was born in a beginning of survival
a feverish fight to exist within the odds against her
to be alive was a victory
to be was a promise to grow beyond what she was expected to become
so she ate the ocean for breakfast, inhaled the
wide possibility that the waves of shore carry every morning
depositing hope with every coming and going
and she smiled through each passing
even when the salt stung
even when the water rang in her ears
even when the sound of the ocean snatched her breath away
a thief that never looked back to question what it had taken
she did not wait for the tide’s return, met it with kindness
but turned her back on something
that was not brave enough to stay and touch her
she did not let the big world make her smaller
and so she grew, and grew, skin splitting
shedding the way autumn coats the ground with burnt honey
a calm surrender to the empty space of who she used to be
she outstretched the sky to make room for herself
suspended herself beneath something that would support her,
hold her when she trembled more than the rattling wind
and nothing appeared to change within the cocoon of her trying
but minds didn’t rest long enough to adjust to the making and remaking
as the cells that were made of her found their purpose
formed legs that would move her forward
formed eyes that would grasp the shards of dappled morning
formed wings that would carry her home
and with her heart in a flutter, she emerged
defiant against all the odds that told her not to be
