Strong

Strong

Strong

Say it out loud

STRONG!

It is a short word

It carries weight

It is a word our ancestors would have approved of

those that walked a much younger earth

It carries the burden, makes light of a heavy load

Strong

It is a word that applies to us

it is given to women to carry the cares and woes of a world

and given to men to protect those in need

It mends the heartbreaks, our burden for caring

it causes us to carry on when there is nothing to hope for

to lift those around us so that we all go on

Strong

It is the gift and curse from my mother

I hold it gently, gingerly while it seizes me and carries me forward

Strong

Here I stand

Strong