No Story.

what is an accomplishment?
webster defines it as "a quality or ability equipping one for society"
and "a special skill or ability acquired by training or practice"
i define it as life.
as surviving. as going through something.

i used to think i had no story.
that i'd accomplished nothing in my life
i believed for so long that i was nothing.
nothing special and that nobody cared.
dreams deterred. crashed and burned.
an angel with unstable wings.
that is who i WAS.

i had to sit back and think about Everything.
i'd forgotten i marched all through Brooklyn when 41 shots were fired.
i was 6.

i'd forgotten that i lived through living with a man who hated me for no reason.
10 years. he tried to break me.

i survived suicide attempts.
i survived being bullied. being called fat and ugly.
i got through my eating disorder.
i got through my parent's fighting.
through their divorce.
through feeling like i'd been abandoned.

i got through.

i survived being molested by a man with no morals. no soul.
i remember the day i told my mother.
i can still see the look on her face.
and the fire in her eyes.
i promised myself that day that i would never cause her that pain again.

i survived.

i used to hate everything about myself.
the way my face looked. the way my hair looked.
the way my body was shaped.
all that!

but i have learned to love whole-heartedly.
to stand on my own two feet.
to not let anyone tear me down.
because i know im great.
i've always been great and will always be great.

i used to think i had no story.
that i'd accomplished nothing in my life.
dreams deterred. crashed and burned.
an angel with unstable wings.
that is who i WAS.

who am i now?
i am her; an image of Him.
i am "us"
im a product of my environment, of them.

i am never a victim.
stronger than ever.
stronger than yesterday.
i am strength.

i'm a voice.
i speak for the voiceless.
i am a body that curves like the waves of a coke bottle.
a face that displays an exact replica of the man i call Daddy.

a spirit unbroken.
a mind never folding, but almost always conflicted.
i am a mixture of Earth, Water, and Fire;
red and white blood cells.

i am a woman.
a "sistah" with the blood of ancestors running throught my veins.
i am a set of eyes that pour heavy rains
whether i'm happy, sad, or laughing.

i am who i am, who i want to be.
myself. and that's not even the half.

i am where i am today because i PUSHED.
i clawed my way through my problems.
scratched and pounded on that damn glass ceiling
'til it fkcing broke!

and i am happy.

i used to think i had no story.
that i'd accomplished nothing in my life.
i know now that i was wrong.

my name is Dominique Ashley David
and this is part of my story.
what's yours?