Downstream
I If you knew me before you would have known that I was wild and unashamed that I hold my teenage self in more esteem than most contemporary adults that the child of me was inundated by internal rivers and rode the rapids with a clarity If you knew me before you would have seen the moment that shame took over the moment I began to shrink You would see the broken oars rushed upon the shore and a pale white hand reaching just above the surface If you knew me before my wild blue hair would make sense now Yet even its vivid hues, so perfectly mimicking those rivers fade next to the temerity it took to keep living So, if you knew me then if you really knew me then You would stand in a goddamn ovation for my return home guiding myself downstream