Literature
The Steps of My Self (Poem)
The Steps of My Self
I. The First Step
I felt my pulse beneath the skin of dawn,
a timid drum inside a cavern of ribs.
The air tasted of unclaimed days,
and I pressed my hands to the earth,
learning its weight, its patience,
its refusal to bend to the shape of my fears.
II. The Second Step
I walked through forests of other people’s voices,
their words like branches scraping my shoulders.
I learned to crouch beneath their expectations,
to wear the moss of approval on my back,
until one night, I let it fall-
and found the soil of myself waiting underneath.
III. The Third Step
Rivers ran through my chest,
cold and relentless, carrying fragments of old selves.
I dove into them, into the dark water of regret,
letting the current strip me bare,
letting the stones of mistakes cut and polish me
until I emerged-
stranger, yes, but unbroken,
flesh and memory renewed.
IV. The Fourth Step
I spoke with the wind in my hair,
with the fire that lived under my ribs,
with the moon that pressed
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