Capable

I am a seed.
I am a caterpillar.
I am potential wrapped in a neon cellophane shell
waiting to leave the taste of sugar on your tongue

I am raw.
I am unedited
I am purity in a world that knows corruption on a first name basis

I am simple
I am whole
I do not require assembly ; I have not fallen apart that much quite yet.

I am strength.
I am beauty.
I am human.

I am a seedling wrapped in soft pink flesh
with an entire history and an undecided future written on the inside of my skin
I am waiting. Patient for the right moment to let my leaves unfurl
I will not burst out overnight like the beanstalk from fairytales
Instead, I will let my tendrils seep down into the dewdrop soaked earth so that I can hold my ground
and you will think nothing of me
but when you return after years have passed
you will be astounded by the growth that has occured in your absence.

I am a caterpillar
I am camoflauged possibilities
the type you only see in your dreams because you've been told it's foolish to believe in that kind of reality any more
I am prepared, I am defensive, I am capable.
I am calm and unwavering.
wrapped in my own protections
I may not look like much in the chrysalis of my self confidence
Give me time.
there will be a day that they will mistake the eyespots on my outstretched wings for the real thing
my true gaze will be focused much farther beyond their attempts to get my attention
and the word surprise will taste like a foreign language in their mouths
because they thought they'd already learned the language of the secrets this world had to tell

I am the barriers I overcame
I am the long nights and hard work ethic that brought me this far
I am the voices that told me gravity existed and to bring me down
but
I am defiant of physics
I am a self defining definition
I am poetry in motion

I was a seed
I was a caterpillar
I am still potential
I have yet to fully bloom

I encourage you to wait and see
how well I will live out the words
I am strength
I am beauty
I am human