Rise

She forgot what it felt like-
What true happiness felt like...
So used to the push for perfection
As it weighed on her shoulders.

And as people threw brick after brick,
Telling her how silly,
Or naive,
Or ridiculous,
She may be,
She learned how to stand,
With the weight of it all
Thick on her back.

And she learned discipline.
Always accepting more,
Her muscles sometimes shaking
Beneath the weight,
But there she stood,
Unbreakable in their storm.

Until one day,
She did break.
And with a mountain
Of discarded bricks
Lying atop her,
She could hardly breathe
Beneath the weight of their words.

Struggling to survive,
She gasped for air,
But there were so many failures,
Ways she'd failed to be
What everyone else wanted her to be,
She could only get enough
For one small breath at a time.

And as she called for help,
Just barely a whisper,
She heard them again.
They told her it was her fault,
She just needed to get over it,
She'd done this to herself.

On and on,
They threw more bricks,
Failing to see
That they were slowly killing her.

Until one day,
She lie there,
Silent.
And the bricks stopped coming.
And she learned from that,
To never ask their help again.

Instead,
She thought back to the strength
She had gained holding those bricks.
And she kicked,
And she pushed.
But for every brick she moved,
Another fell in its place.

Yet discipline had long since
Been her only companion,
And she used every ounce of it
To kick and push
And fight back against the darkness
Surrounding her...
Until one by one they fell away.

Minutes turned to hours,
Which turned to days
Which turned to weeks,
Which turned to months.
She learned to rest,
But not quit
As she shuffled that pile of bricks.

Until one day, there she stood,
Shaking like a newborn fawn,
Eyes blinking at the sun-
Both afraid and empowered.

She had survived.
She had learned.
She would no longer let those
That didn't matter
Push perfection on her.

She would remember her strength,
And she would remind those,
Those that doubted,
Just what that strength looked like
As she roared her victory.

Never again,
Would she forget who she really was.
Never again,
Would she forget why she mattered.
Never again,
Would she forget
She would always rise.