I'm trying so hard to be gentle with myself.
I offer endless compassion and grace to everyone else.
Why is it so hard to show myself the same?
I wish to know the answer to the question,
to call it by name.
I know that the trauma I've endured plays a large role.
Too many years of feeling that my voice my silenced.
What was the price of my compliance?
Too much exploitation in corporate America.
Too much has been taken without being repaid, all in effort to make another dollar,
to survive another day.
Too many words were lost in the pursuit of it all, and now I struggle to save those words on paper, a portrait of words.
Still, little by little, I am climbing out of myself, reaching a metamorphosis with a pen.
Slowly but surely,
I am starting to believe again.
-Rhia Clay
This poem explores the themes of trauma and the journey of overcoming it, alongside the challenges of navigating the current economy. Both aspects are tough to handle, and many individuals are striving to juggle these issues along with various other obligations. Nevertheless, we persist and find ways to cling to hope and self-acceptance.