My mother has always said to me,
"It will always be okay.
No matter how bad it all may seem,
You will change,
Things will change,
And you will be okay."

"Can I?"
"You can."
"Will I?"
"You will."

I will swim in the storms
That drown my course of action.
Like a tree,
I will grow to fit the mold that Nature intends.
Like leaves,
I will always find the light.
I can grow hotter than my feverish skin;
I can run faster than blood can run.

I will shake the dust off my lungs
and the cogs that turn my mind.
I will blink the sand from my eyes
and jump in every mirage’s puddle,
And don’t you dare tell me they’re not there.
Don’t tell me freedom is a facade.
I will go blind with stars in my eyes,
knowing I have seen the sky.

I will clear the fear from my throat
and sing to the crows that wait on my shoulders.
“Move along.
Keep going.
It is not my time.

For I have changed,
And things will change,
And I will be okay.”

Can I?
I can.
Will I?
I will.