Hidden Strength

Behind the camera lens
Or in front of the room
Through pages of books
I have hidden
A degree I wear
A picture I paint
With a crooked smile
I have hidden

Very few know the real story
Behind my literature
Where metaphors are memories
For the things I wish to forget

The camera flashes
And, I remember the room I stand in
Where my nose is now
not hidden in fictional tales
Awakened to reality,
I remember

Here, I will not hide
For the weight
That feels heavier by the day
Will one day reveal
Beauty from ashes, my hope
Here I will not hide
Where my independence,
some may say a fault
Has lifted me to places
I never thought possible
Here I will not hide
Where my free spirit
And, bohemian heart
Lives to lift others up,
instead of dragging this world down
Here I will not hide
Where my travels
And, experiences
Have injected a compassion
To serve those in need
Here I will not hide
Where gifting and dreams
Were not given by accident

Though others don’t always understand
And, though I sometimes feel like an anomaly
I have come to understand
Normality does not open the door
To extraordinary stories

I clear from the hiding to tell
My story without the metaphors
So that others may find
The hidden strength
That tells the greater story than I
Where redemption is sealed
And, victory is won forevermore.