It was like a pit and a pendulum,
or an empty “whole” where I had to grow.
If I chose to take this path again,
I surely wouldn’t bend—
but you set the soil for my blossoming.

Every day I tried to leave, to run, to be free,
but it was me who trapped me.
A mental slavery—until I chose to be me, unapologetically.
To choose myself among the rest.
35 years I thought I was doing my best,
but the bar was low. I see that now.

Joseph’s pit with a Pita Pit, broken hearts, poverty, and strife—
Could I really be another wife?
This “Whole” I dug beneath the rug
turned out to be a home, a haven.
I laughed, I cried, I sang to ravens.

A final goodbye at this final pit stop.
Here today and gone tomorrow,
I now leave behind all my sorrows.

Welcoming the new, not the blues.
Free at last, free from the past,
free to pack and never look back.
“What pit?” I’ll say—
Today is a brand new day.

I stood on the corner with others in the cold
I grabbed what I could to feed the hungry & the old

They had nothing in their hands but dust & sores
Their shoes tattered and clothes with holes

“Do you have more? I need more they said”
Laying on the floor without a bed

“This is all I have, I’m so sorry.
I’ll do my best to come back in a hurry”

“Thank you, mam,” they all said.

“What do you need?” I said
“Socks and warm food, I’m cold.”

Down the street someone asleep as others walk over them
Sunburned, dried hair, and nothing to cover

Their cracked skin, no shelter, no water

I shed a well of tears that woke the earth
And shortly after I gave birth

To a drive inside to fight harder & to never hide
The power of my ferocious voice

My will of fire became unmatched
As I unleashed my skill & removed my mask

Beneath, a face of many
Two feet on the ground standing steady

I knew what I had to do
To turn the skies from grey to blue

I refused to let the fear make me believe
That there was no one like you and me

Who also cared about the world
And all the life that lived inside her

With debt on my back
I turned to others to help me lay a new track

A new path to justice
As we march ahead to help the many

Unafraid of what would come next
But we knew, we would stand together at our best

There will be times when thoughts creep and crawl
And eventually, turn into a brawl

But we are the souls of many
The news it lies, we come from plenty

Even if our backs are turned
And bridges have burned

Choose to love like the stars above

You are not so different from they and them
You are the same as he and him, she, they, zi and zir

Do not let your mind be stirred
Your heart is large and pure

Be firm in who you are
Love ALL and choose not to fall

You are mightier than the willow’s roots
And the stained army boots

That sit and wait if we do not hurry
To change the world from visions blurry

To light skies & lullabies
That children can finally sing

With their parents hearts still ringing
A loving call to soothe their dreams

So I say to you if anything
Always choose to love

And embrace like singing doves.

That moment I chose myself & my path of destiny
The path that was made for me
Was the happiest moment of my life

I no longer carried the heaviness of oppression & my generational strife
I no longer had to pretend I enjoyed being an ordinary housewife

I ran towards my truth quicker than the wind could blow

I could finally smile and exhale my ancestral whoas

I chose to be the person only a seer could see
I chose to stand tall & SING

I AM no longer a blackbird, but a phoenix of almighty power
I watched the clocks speed up by the hour

As I flew into the unknown above their racist towers
With a new perspective of self-love & dignity

As I sat there resting, finally able to drink my tea
And basque in the glory of who I could BE

Embodying the path that was made for me

Celebrating that I chose,
My heavenly destiny