Get Up

I watch her as she lays there restlessly,

Curled up fetally, face wincing.

Get up, girl!

It did not break you

Only bent you in unimaginable ways.

Get up, girl!

It’s time to untangle yourself

And stretch your limbs.

You’ll find that the bending changed you.

You can reach higher

Persevere longer.

Get up, girl!

Life still goes on around you,

There’s still more for you to live,

More love, more laugher,

More hope, more discovery.

Get up, girl!

It’s time to rise above what was,

Stand in what is,

And walk toward what will be.

Slowly, uncurling, she sits up,

Dizzy from retiring so long.

She shifts her body and plants her feet,

Still unsure if her legs can bear

The weight of the pain she carries.

I give her an assuring nod.

Get up, girl!

She breathes in long and deep

And rises to find that

She is stronger and somehow taller than before.

Her wincing face relaxes, then tightens.

But it’s not pain anymore.

It’s determination.

Yes, girl, like that!