Marching to her own beat

Behind the façade of happy valley,

Sunshine emitting from your smiles,

Who really lies behind those eyes of light,

Radiating for miles?

Because my eyes pierce further

Than the peak of your valleys,

Reminisce of a troubled childhood,

While you recite prayer with your

Perfect families.

Seems as if you all have friends

To guide you along,

No discordance in your melody,

Always humming a happy song.

Full of life, with avoidance to strife,

Untainted by the world…

Well I have lived the world,

Burst out of my bubble.

At your age I was once like you,

Never got into trouble.

I walked free with no weights

On my ankles to slow me down,

And I see all of you,

Breathing air,

While my sins made me drown.

But when life brings a tsunami,

Thrust into a different culture,

What will you do?
When your scriptures and your prayer

And your cookie-baking parties

Don’t save you?

God can help so much,

But ignorance will stifle,

And the Adversary will bring a

Rifle, to shoot you down.

Even your bullet-proof vest

Of goodness and perfection

Won’t save you,

Then what will you do?

I am here for my goals,

But I feel so above you,

When it comes to what I

Have been through,

The experiences that all of you

Virginal, innocent, blind women

Have never put yourselves into.

But I am tried of frowning,

Feeling so out of place,

I know I am not here for social,

But the past I can’t erase.

The culture is so thick it swallows me whole,

And I am ostracized for being single,

Not married by 23,

Because I was so out of control.

Where can I go for belonging?

Where the peaks of the mountains

Reach high to the heavens,

And the sun shines brightly everyday,

Damn, when will the Seattle rain give in?
I just hope that I can stay focused,

And realize I have always been unique,

I don’t fall into cliques or mold to my environment,

Or try to ‘fit in’ I march to my own beat.

I am the one who reaches a hand to the underdog,

Comforts those in need,

Starts my own trends, my own advice I heed.

But one thing I don’t do is smile when I am not happy,

Be perfect, put on a show,

Because although I don’t fit in in this ‘happy valley’

facade,

This I do know,

That God

Appreciates me because I am true to myself.

I have been through the struggle

and come out alive.

And here I am now,

attaining my goals,

working hard, everyday,

to survive.