the finding of inner peace.

I can see myself,

even if others can’t.

I am that little black girl

who has grown up,

and I refuse to let go

of my vision,

my need to achieve and be.

Even when weight is attached

to my sleeves.

It is like dust,

it will fall with the breeze.

I stand tall,

A mighty little thing,

and I scream,

“I’m in love with the inner

and outer beauty

Of what it means to be me.”

Oh, how free!

Oh, how sweet!

Oh, the joy

of what it is

to be.

Taste like honey

dripping from a tree.

This is the findings of

Inner peace.

---

TODAY’S REFLECTION

I wrote this poem during my early teenage years when I was exposed to colorism and the warped lenses towards Black women. I remember seeing online comments, tweets, and media portrayals that tried to shrink us—labeling us angry, loud, too much, too strong to be soft and feminine. It almost felt like the world didn't want Black girls to feel peace. But this poem? This was my quiet resistance. My “you will not shape me”.

I wasn’t trying to boast or compare or prove my skin was better than anyone else’s. I just wanted to express the honor to exist in the skin I was born in and the soul God placed within it. Because just as I am—inside and out—I am beautiful. I am whole. Because of God not you/them. The ending of this poem reminds me of Maya Angelou—who I was reading a lot of at the time. That soft, rhythmic skip through the fields of freedom. That gentle “I know who I am and who I belong to” energy.

And now, every time I read it, I’m reminded:

You don’t get to blur my lens just because yours is distorted.

I see myself clearly.

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” - Psalm 139:14