Strength is beauty seeping through clouds, And ranges dotting horizons, And the two of these together changing the face of the plains...

Strength exists in those who are reluctant enough to refrain from breaking underneath the heavy gaze of whichever force is trending at the moment
Be it the voice-shaking
Gyrating
Dictionary-spewer of the voice box at will
Be it the kid-beater
Guardian
All and otherwise misguided
Be it the stuffer
P*nis or finger or obscure object
Into saturated hole
We all misinterpret what the mountains do on their ranges
What the trees think when they spread their leaves
As if large equals overcoming equals overbearing
As if mountains are not ruled by the tide of the winds, too
Strength is beauty seeping through clouds
And ranges dotting horizons
And the two of these together changing the face of the plains
It is not the toil of one force over the adversary it has imagined
But breaking in dignity when it is time to break
And building in short breaths when they can be caught
And never looking away from either •

We all experience our lowest points in life. A moment in which, indeed, the only way left to go is up. We all have varying degrees of strengths and weaknesses — those circumstances that either break us or allow us to grow. But, I think we forget that the outcome for both breaking and growing is advancement. I have certainly experienced an ultimate low, a rock bottom — a time in which the only options were either my demise or ascension.

Even as we think we are too weak to stand — the only options become stagnation or moving ahead. And I think we all know that stagnation is the most painful. Sitting still in the depths of pain, agony, and misery ultimately hurts worse than standing and climbing. I found myself in this desolate place after the sudden death of a young, beloved family member.

We never know how we will react to a circumstance we observe in another's life — we can presume that we will be stronger, that we can last longer. But life has a way of crushing you. And in order to overcome, I had to realize that this crushing does not end with us being reduced to a pile of dust, but rather the crushing reshapes us. And it is during the crushing that we can decide into which shape we will choose to be formed.

We can determine this by selecting which way we will heal. The options for healing are many, and there are also options for avoidance — avoidance being the deadly, stunting form of catharsis. But it is all available for us to choose from — and it is within this choice that we can become that which we have always, long desired. It is in this way we can ascend to our transcendent potential — what we have always envisioned ourselves being in our mind's eye, of which we have eternally dreamed.

After the inevitable crushing of life, it is the way we choose to heal that determines what we will become, how we will be reshaped. What will you choose? •

Poem from Four Years in Chrysalis
© Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq Publishing
Follow @AishaTariqa for more original poetry and merchandise •