Injustice

It is wild to me

How distorted

People's perceptions can become

Of what is real

Of the own roles they play

In their own realities

It is wild to me

That no matter how you may give others the benefit of the doubt

In turn

They are weaving stories about you

Congratulating themselves 

For questioning those stories

But ultimately

Believing them

I have learned

That "being the bigger person"

Has nothing to do with letting things slide

But rather

Sticking up for yourself

When others would readily walk over you

I find myself

Fighting for equality

When others are fighting to take more than their fair share

We are not the same

The storms we find ourselves in are our own

We can't avoid them

We can only reflect on how we want to participate

I can only reflect on who I want to be

Despite the cold world we live in

The cold people who will bite at your character

Without knowing you

This world prepared me

Taught me

That while I can be soft and amenable 

I also have to be willing

To fight for myself

For rights

That no one should have to fight for

That's the sad reality we've been born into

But I think I'm learning 

To own it

To own whatever fight is mine

To own my own sovereignty 

My own way of being

So that when others come for me

I know how to stand tall

In my own knowing

In my own assurance

That I have just as much a right to be here

As anyone