Earned

My stripes.

When you see, success,
It's consequent of a lifetime of duress.
Of breaking glass ceilings,
scathing self doubt, tears, lonely battles,
then, of healing.

They have to be earned, the stripes.

When you see calm,
It's borne of a tumultuous storm.
It's when you've lost a thousand times,
the same fight, wounded, incessant inclines,
quiet strength is learned.

Another stripe is earned.

And when you see kindness,
It's from the hardest falls, when
there wasn't a hand to hold, just unkindness.
Countless repeats, it landed then.
It was within her, to give, infiniteness.
To herself, others. To love, here on.

The final stripe to earn.

So the next time you see,
a girl that's not quite "drama-free",
pause, to hear her silent plea
of empathy.

Stand if you can, a moment by her side
while she wages her daily wars, provide
a kind, encouraging word.
Let her know she will be heard.

And her battle scars will heal,
to finally reveal
and to wear with pride,

her stripes, her reward.