As the rain pelts down this New Years Eve
I form a gentle smile at my reprieve

The rain has pelted in years before
Years in which my soul would in anger roar

Lost in the wilderness of my stormy mind,
Buried in a body to which I hadn't been kind

Screaming and wailing, unnoticed, ignored
In a body forgotten, in a mind grown bored

But as with everything a change eventually came,
A chance to delve into sorrow or to remain tame

I opted for sorrow in search of some light
The only path meandering out of my dark night

There were battles and mountains, scratches and falls
Moments of despair and unanswered calls

But onwards I stumbled, tripped, crawled and fell
Finally out of my own bleak and self created hell

Tender, deflated, worn but with hope
Growing, understanding, believing I'd cope

And now I sit on my bed in this years final rain,
And remember fondly my journey, my aching, my pain

I travelled it, lived it, each high, each low
And now sitting here I smile, because I now know

It's me, It is I, She who's empowered
I who can choose to be me or a coward

It's not what becomes of us or where we each go
It's within us all, it's what we all know

I can't change my past years nor would I want to
They're my foundation, the reason I found you

The strength, the beauty, the wisdom in me
I've finally accepted it and set it all free

So I'll begin this New Year unlike those before
With no big promises but with love at my core

For myself and my loved ones, for both friend and foe
Showing compassion for all with what I now know.

The rain has abated and now I must sleep
Content in my soul, happy and deep

Light after darkness, smile after tear.
What we seek lives in each of us, Happy New Year.