“Identity” – Poem

Identity

By: Ashley O’Hare

I am a warrior fighting a war in my mind.

I am not a victim, crippled by words with empty meaning.

I am an ocean wave, crashing onto the shore.

I am not a child’s bucket left behind to drown.

I am made up of scars and bruises I have learned to adore.

I am not broken by the cuts you made me endure.

I am the deep inhalation of oxygen.

I am not the destruction of my frail integrity.

I am strong.

I am not fragile.

I am capable of sewing myself back together.

I am not your little sister’s teddy bear, begging for a seamstress’s hand.

I am the thorns of a stem.

I am not the delicate petal between your fingertips.

I am a follower of my own dreams.

I am not following you.