Wings

You know what they always tell you.
You know how you’re supposed to give it your best shot.
You’re supposed to try your hardest, even when it seems impossible.
But it isn’t as easy as all that.
You’ve felt the disappointment that comes when you fail.
You’ve picked yourself up from the dust what seems like a million times.
For a while, you believed them.
You thought that if you tried often enough, you’d make it one day.
But time and time again, your wings failed you.
They fluttered feebly, and crumpled as you plummeted.
And so the next time around, you set your sights lower.
You gave up on the stars, decided that they were too far.
There was no air to breathe up there anyway.
Back on the ground, they clipped your wings.
Told you, after all, it wasn’t meant to be.
Some people, they said, were fated flightless.
And so you watched the skies from your cage.
You watched your brothers soar from your perch on earth.
And what was left of your heart died.
They covered you in autumn leaves, wrote you off without blinking an eye.
As they forgot about you, left you alone,
Your feathers grew back in
Don’t believe what they say.
You know you are more than they say
Quiet in the dark, preen your wings.
Get back up and fly.