And Still We Rise

Remarkably, still we rise.

After a tearful, restless night with no foreseeable end

We rise up with the sun and press on, press on.

No physical strength left to hold up our tired heads

Yet with borrowed grit we stand again and again.

Never dreaming we would be traversing this path alone

We cry while squaring back our shoulders, walking, then running.

Surviving off of the fumes of burnt out hopes

We extinguish our expectations and with courage try and try again.

Day after day, sleepless night after sleepless night, we keep breathing

Stumbling, we dust off our hands, tend to our bruises,

And with strength beyond our own we climb up our mountains again.

Rising, then falling, then rising once more

Hearts offering, hearts breaking, keeping an open door

Losing, grieving, swimming through our deepest pain

And still, with fortitude, we rise up again.