Poem: I taught myself

 I taught myself

how to stand still

while the ocean roars inside

 

I taught myself

to never reveal everything

for fear of not fitting in

 

I taught myself

there is beauty

in being who you really are

 

I taught myself

how to tend to my wounds

for in life you have to take care of yourself

 

I taught myself

to be stubborn

otherwise my goals will just laugh at me

 

I taught myself

to think it over

before speaking up

 

through it all… I never taught myself

how to stand in the light

how to raise my voice not to be shut down

how to spend the time that has been given to me

so that when the time is up, I won't have any regrets.

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