All the stories you have heard
are not your story,
all the endings you may have thought
foreshadowed what would come of you
are not your ending

Pick up your tale – don’t let it
drag in the dust –
you aren’t ordained to go the way
you have been told befalls
everyone else,
and no one else is either

Pay attention  – this is not a time to drift,
it’s not a time to fall,
It’s time to catch your upward lift,
time to embrace your all

Take in the new unfolding steps
as courage leads you –
This is your story, and the world’s  –
Step forth – it needs you.

©Wendy Mulhern
February 23, 2021