You may feel broken,

Yet as long as your heart still beats,

You lie far from,

As you learned to live battered

With unspoken tatters.

Tell me who deserves to feel fulfilled more

Than the Nefertiti in the making who

Had to fill their own cup with gold

After all these years?

When love molds your heart,

Ignorance will sedate itself

As acceptance flourishes.

Like Hughes, I’m still here and

Angelou I still rise,

Despite the youth draining from my eyes.