i do not care what you have heard

from the lips of a society cold

but you are not your pain

your shame or your despair

~~~~

no, these are things, they

don’t define, they are just

a cloak you wear from time to time

when the temperature drops

~~~~

and the world is cold or sometimes

by habit when sun still shines

and just because they happened

you now you possess these

~~~~

things you never thought you would

but as seasons and styles change

so will the cloak that you wear, and you

yes you, my friend, can make this cloak

~~~~

your helper, take it in your hands, reconfigure

the cut and fit, become in charge of when you

choose to put it on, and fashion it instead

into something beautiful and worthwhile

~~~~

from these things that happened TO you

but never back then, and never right now

and never will they ever be

who you ARE

~~~~

©Heather Pound 2022