I No Longer Wish For Strength Poem by Kiara Mckinney

I no longer wish for strength
for I am not a soldier
I no longer pray for bravery
for I am not a warrior

Others value my resiliency
I mourn my softness
They praise my ambition
while i yearn for purpose

I was never a girl
Born a woman
First they claimed
my body
my mind
my voice
and then
my time

Too much of this
Not enough of that
Way too thin
Way too fat

Always saying the wrong thing
No matter how right I may be
Just wanting to be seen and heard
But never truly discovered

Adrift, afloat, without a raft
or even so much as a map
I've navigated this world on my own
Planted my own gardens, made my own home

A thousand lives I've lived in one
So much that I've over come
But I do not wish for strength
Now, I ask that life bring me peace