It's My Birthday

Years stretch behind me like the blink of an eye. Faster than the speed of light, I have moved from adolescent to adult. I have been so blessed for so long. I have love in my life that was unimaginable to me just a few years ago. I have a healthy relationship with my friends, and my family, and on some days even myself. I am well-fed and well-taken care of. I am constantly surrounded by light and love, and the patience of the universe in the midst of my timid process. I do not fear for my life when I walk from my car to my house, as the racist war my tax dollars are paying for is not being fought on American soil. I am relatively healthy, and I have full use of all my limbs. I rock.
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#1
I am running into a new year/The earth that birthed me does not yet call me to rest/So I will run/ I will run until I am new/Standing before my young-self/Handing blessings and gifts and lessons and love and pain and years of living to new-self/ Together we will sit in life circle around our moon-mother-lover-friend/ child-self, young-self, and new-self chanting messages of eternal love/ feeding directly from moon light until we are one/ we will rise to form a new light/ a new star beaming brightly in the evening sky/ "and in us all there is only light"
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#2
Warrior Woman
Big bellied and brown-skinned
I stand ready for my next life-stage
I am honoring my body and my spirit
Today a crossover, again
I recognize this rites of passage ceremony
I ask the ancestors to honor me with the rites of a succulent woman
To give their blessings on my new-self
I will humbly wait in prayer and meditation for their answer.
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When I was 16, I participated in a rites of passage group at my high school. I learned a lot in the two years I was involved in the group. I recognize the place I am at right now. I have been here before. I am facing metamorphosis. I have been growing and growing, sometimes painfully, for the past nine years. Now, I see the same threshold in front of me, and I wonder if I am ready to cross it. What is on the other side? Will I be safe? Will it be just as difficult? I know I must listen to the divine voice in me, which tells me that I have to cross it. That I am ready to move and get my wings. I can fly right now, all I have to do is cross this threshold. I need to pray and meditate. I will ask my ancestors for permission, and await their blessing. With light surrounding me, and love supporting me, I will cross into new-life.