Walls Crumble and Wings Catch Air

So the truth of life is...
well... we all have our own,
our very own list of hidden secrets
places we keep tucked behind the walls
where nothing seems to live.

Places we came from,
things we allowed to happen...
and looking upon them in our dark moments
we feel ashamed,
and so they stay... hidden behind the walls.

But what happens when one day..
you look in the mirror and feel good?
What happens when those walls are so far in..
you just don't feel effected by those moments,
but they are still in there...

This moment I will shake up the ground
under my foundation and allow..
the life to breath upon those things
tucked away so deep...
 and why?
Because I Love Me...

Yes, I was beaten,
felt like nothing,
molested in my preteen years
words to this day weave the secrets of those moments
those hurts...
Black eyes, assaults that felt endless..
an entire home can become a danger zone
when the man you love is enraged.

Yet...
I lived beyond that,
I raised strong, children I am proud of
I hold my head high because I KNOW
I am a survivor in Life
No challenge will overcome my will

I look at my image now and feel the beauty I was given
see the strength I have learned
and know...
people can never be judged by their situation
because that's all it is..
it does not define them
and that, I believe...
is the greatest gift I have received
from being the so called "victim"

As walls crumble and wings catch air...
I am free to live
free to love
free to be me and just be happy
for no reason..
just to feel freely.

@s.vanderbilt 4.17.17