Perception

To fully appreciate our progress
I must first walk you through this process

A world where words
take us in a new direction, introspection
equates to, a change in perception
a group of men who
were courageous enough, to see their OWN reflection
what stared back was redemption,
it moved its lips and whispered reminders
of what’s to come, should we keep the past
behind us

But first we learned
to heal the wounds from past abuse
and emotional burns

We began to find, and the separate the “I’m” in,
an impossible, I’m possible
Seeing the opportunity for growth through life’s obstacles

Our tree of change is demonstrated by our fruit
tested, tried, but still true, because our
remorse, our remorse is at the root

We slowly figured out our role, no matter the system,
collective wisdom, helps us to practice what we know
or at least to contemplate, the position, the position
from which we operate

Through this process…what I’ve realized is
Life is never hard, but a struggle
so breakthroughs never come to, the stonefaced,
but to the vulnerable and humble
what is a memorable journey with stories of
a pothole or a stumble? What is an earthquake,
without the testimonies of the ones, who survived
all the weight of the rubble?

And we survived, slowly learning how to thrive
to defy, is the power to continue to RE-define
Life’s tests become testaments
Stumbling blocks turn to stepping stones
Breakdowns become breakthroughs
From broken to brilliant
From resigned to resilient
From searching outside to finding all our answers within

This process,
Has freed us from the chains of shame,
and we’ve been embraces, embraced by the arms of grace
that say, “We are not our worst mistakes.”

Perception-from could have been
to what will be
Ugly falls, turn to rising gracefully