You Are Not The Stones They Throw at You

You are magnificent.

I don’t even think you realize how wonderful,
magnificent and full of life you are
because you are so distracted by the bruises
on your body.

You are breathless.
Of course, you feel breathless now because you are
slowly letting life die out of you,
and it is exhausting.
But you could take anyone else’s breath away
with how beautiful you are.

But here you stand,
stones plummeting towards you,
each one being thrown at you with words shouted
through the sound waves in the sky,
words that are not accurate about you at all,
and you can’t find anything else to feel except helpless.
You have every right in the world to feel helpless,
but you should know,
you are not the words they scream at you.

You are not the stones they throw,
the lies they screech,
the threats they make,
the hate they bring upon you.
They don’t understand you, because they’ve never tried to understand you.
You must know, that it is easier to attack what we are afraid of or what is unknown,
so they attack you because they fear you, you are so powerful.
You are so radiant that they are intimidated,
and you are so similar that it is unnerving to them.
You are no different, yet here you stand,
being beaten for what you are instead of being beaten for
what you are not.

You stand against a brick wall,
and yes, you feel so alone in this fight to keep consciousness,
but do you know that behind that brick wall
are so many people, as afraid as you are,
and you are the brave one, taking the fall?

But it’s time you stopped taking the fall.
It is time you stopped being misunderstood,
it is time you speak peace instead of keeping silent
it is time you picked up the shield that lies next to you,
the one you have always been so frightened to use,
in fear that they may have weapons worse than stones.
But the mightiest weapon is the flame you have inside of you,
and it is just waiting to be set ablaze.

You are the fire that can change the world,
and it is time that you catch the stones they throw
and use them to break down the walls that are dividing you.
You are so beautiful, and it is time you start showing your beauty
to those who cast stones.