I ran away from my problems back then

Instead of facing them like a big girl

I've learned to live with it

But then, I've learned to live with a lot in my lifetime

Trust, mistrust, love, friendship, fear

Just keep moving down the road ahead

Never looking back

I'm learning

Slowly, every day

I take part of the world and make it part of myself

Who I am, how I am seen

I've learned not to care what other people think

I've learned when to speak out and when to be still

I've learned how to fight for the things I want

and love

and need

For the respect I deserve, but have to earn

On this earth of confusion

In a population of billions

I am me

And I am strong

And inside there is darkness

that I fight when it rises

And beat it back with self-talk and medicine

and sleep

And each day is new

I look

to the sunrise

to the jobs I know are waiting

for me to take

The time I know is too little

For everything I want

So I cram it all in and still want more

I spin in a maze of possibilities

Left, right, center

There are three dimensions

Where is the shortcut

for life?