Strength Today by Valerie Parente

It killed me back then
but I’m so alive now
I didn’t carry myself up
to burrow back in the ground.

You say I’m going easy
but I think I’m going strong
because I’ve taken what I’ve learned
and moved myself along.

I didn’t know I’d be validated
back when I found my strength
and that’s why I can handle
whatever comes today.

I don’t see the point
in making someone sad about the past
when they express an understanding
of the things that have passed.
Why would I want
to ignore the happiness I feel today
and spoil the present
in the name of former heartache?
My heartache doesn’t own me,
I am owned by my strength,
and my strength is telling me
it’s okay to celebrate.
That’s the thing about happiness,
it’s kind of like pain,
you have to choose to let it in,
and that’s a choice I’m willing to make.

– Valerie Parente (3-16-2021)