I am that I am, neither perfect nor foul

I love to live and live to love, to paint the world in vibrant color

A bow in my hair, a leaf in my teeth, and my reflection laughs right along with me

I know words of wisdom and some that are not, and I have earned and envied, felt and lost

My blood runs warm and my eyes are focused but once my body had to learn how to heal

To face the best and the worst has sullied my innocence, stripping me bare to the bone where I cannot hide beneath flesh so disconcertingly flawed

I am the rock with rugged terrain and the gem that shimmers bright beneath the shine of a jeweler’s light

I know when to go, when to stop and sometimes when no just isn't enough

I am my mother’s child, my brother’s keeper and my father’s first born

These arms of mine have said hello and goodbye; yet will never lower, for all walks of life are welcomed to them

I hold the pen of destiny to the empty pages of my life, eager to write a story worth telling

And though the paper I scribble upon crinkles and smudges, thrown and retrieved from the receptacle many a time, it is in every essence a part of me

I am beauty

I am abhorrent

I am lost

I am found

I am tiny

I am frail

I am substantial

I am empowered

I am that I am, no more and no less