She Woke Up

On waking up. Sometimes, the struggle is real.

She woke up without fail each morning

With varying degrees of relief and regret

She woke up to the reality facing her

And sometimes all she wanted was to go back to sleep

And sometimes, before her eyes even opened, she sobbed

Deep. Guttural. Sobs.

As if a thousand ancestors were grieving through her

Begging her to save them, save us, save our futures

And still, she woke up

She woke up and hit play, instead of snooze

She used music and lyrics to replace the noise and voices in her head

Rise up singing, Daisy May sang

Look up, sang Joy

Step into your power was Ray’s refrain

She curated playlists that inspired and encouraged her, and it started to work

She woke up to the powerful truth that two things can be true at the same time

The world can be a horrible place

The world can be a beautiful place

Her world is a challenging place these days

She woke up to the knowing that she is surrounded and supported by hundreds of the living and the dead

They cheer her on, encourage her, listen to her, love her, hold her, challenge her, champion her

She woke up to the hard reality of this season in her life each morning,

and, she found a way to be grateful for it all

She woke up to the truth that this is here for each of us, in different ways

She woke up to the truth that it was always going to be like this

She woke up to the truth that arguing with reality was a fool's game

She woke up

And some days, that was enough