Wrong Turns

I don’t need permission
to fall on my face
I do it quite well
with poise
and grace

You may see failure
but I just see heart
a fierce determination
to try
to restart

I don't mind the dirt
that sits under my nails
I'm grateful for hands
that dig so well

My skin may be bruised 
and scarred in soft places
my teeth may be crooked
with a few empty spaces

That's what makes me beautiful
not polished perfection
just a few "wrong turns"
as I find my direction

Every scrape and blemish
both outside and in
just shows I know how
to begin again

There are no wrong turns, at least none that I’ve found. Every turn has led me to more of myself. I am still discovering parts of me that I left abandoned down long dirt roads; I thought they were broken, so I left them alone. I’ve come to realize that no part of me has ever been broken. No effort I’ve put in has ever been a waste. I have always kept going, and that was the point.

Some days still feel like breathing is the only accomplishment of the day, and some days even that feels like work; but the terrain changed somewhere along the way, and I’m finding those days happen less and less.

Revelations of clarity happen suddenly, but the journey from understanding to knowing takes time. I may stumble every now and then, but I will always keep going. That’s how you make it an adventure.

~Bea