“ A Poem for Myself on My Twenty Sixth Birthday”

If life is mine for the taking then I must choose 

And despite the shame & question of tomorrow 

I’ve made up my mind

to be good to me 

Even if I must choose

me in the corner, head down 

me in the love affair, dead wrong 

me in the bind, wriggling free 

I choose me at the crossroads 

I choose me down bad 

I choose me up, wishing

I choose me who came in the backdoor 

Bolting out the front 

Turning my back 

On love that has run its course 

I choose me who should’ve known better

And me who did but did not act 

( And I choose redemption )

I choose me on the precipice 

diving in, deeper than anyone has gone before 

I choose me in the prison yard 

I choose me at the prayer mat

I choose me who asked for a second chance 

Then took twenty four more 

Shamelessly 

Audaciously 

grabbed a hand full of sweetness

Stuck it in my pockets despite the rising heat 

And ran like the wind 

Me who served yet was severed 

Me who bent and was broken 

Me desired and pitied 

Me repenting & remitted 

Me 

still on my mighty way 

And  I’m done 

I am done 

Finally, ultimately, supremely

Waiting to be chosen