I would like to thank the hands
The ones I held on to as I fell
The hands that pushed me down into the dirt
The hands that lifted my soul from the depths of this darkness.

I would like to thank the mouths
That have fed me the lies and the truths
That have showed me the way to the light
That have kissed and bitten the pain and the scars.

And I thank all those words, so many words,
In the songs and the poems and the stories
That have made me feel like I’m not alone,
That have given me strength like nothing else can.

And I thank you,
The embodiment of everything I wanted
For standing there, an ode to the possibility
Of being happy and satisfied and exhausted
And screaming and hugging and kissing and laughing
And loved.  And seen.  And nothing in between.