by Linda M. Crate
a person isn't defined
by what people
think of them,
i won't crumble like
a falling building because
someone doesn't like
me or see me as i truly am;
i am me—
with make-up, without it; with
jewelry or with none:
i am the same person—
a woman armed with ambition,
big dreams, big hopes,
and a drive and intensity to push
her forward even in times
of heartbreak and longing;
night doesn't last forever
and dawn's light will spill upon me
one morning—
so even through the tears and the fears,
i push on;
because this is me: the one who never
gives up, the one that persists,
the one that will live forever.
Linda M. Crate (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer whose poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has twelve published chapbooks the latest being: Searching Stained Glass Windows For An Answer (Alien Buddha Publishing, December 2022). She is also the author of the novella Mates (Alien Buddha Publishing, March 2022). Her debut book of photography Songs of the Creek (Alien Buddha Publishing, April 2023) was recently published.