Climbing to Mars
You know what I always disliked when I was growing up
When adults would tell me not to say I hated something because “hate is a strong word”
Yeah? So?
I’m thirteen and I have strong feelings
Just as heat rises to the ceiling my faith carries me higher past the land of dreaming
I soar through imagination and zip past fantasy and find myself faced with reality
I’m told to come to a slow stop and approach with caution
It’s not uncommon to be affected by its toxins
But I didn’t listen
There was no need to pretend
My thoughts flew high and like branches on a tree I began to extend
My limits became opportunities I thought were unattainable
The rush in my bones unexplainable
The only thing I could think of was growing
Bouncy and vivacious
My mother wasn’t kidding when she said she couldn’t imagine my lively spirit thinning
She said, “I still remember you as the little girl who overwatered the flowers because you didn’t know when to stop giving”
I was open
Not one to leave words unspoken
With my heart on my sleeve, I never anticipated the day where someone would say “hey… you’re going to get hurt”
Those words, something in me snapped when my heart felt their touch
Like the strings on a guitar when you wind them too much
The air went cold and the pitter patter of the rain stunned my brain
I never thought that growing up would mean the loss of my imagination
Edges are sharpened, and the walls are hardened
A dream board of glorious technicolor turned to blue hues
The emerald green fields now doused by monsoons
I am left to wallow in the gray
But then I looked to you, and you said
“I know kid, I think about space in this scenario where gravity is everyone else and we are the space vessel. Everyone thought we couldn’t go to the moon, but we did, and nobody thinks we’ll go to Mars, but we will. You’re meant for space. Everyone who feeds off of pulling people back down is meant to stay where they are.”
When someone criticizes you and doubts your process, their words highlight their own shortcomings, not yours
Love and light doesn’t mean subservient and uninformed
It’s putting your faith in the stars even after someone who you thought was the whole galaxy destroy the light you’ve followed so far
You, with all your glory and strength cannot fathom what’s at arm’s length
You are everything I want you to be because you are working towards becoming everything you want to be
Love with your entire being
Do not give into the sound of silence
Staying quiet when you feel like screaming
Remember that on somedays even the sun struggles to be seen
Other days it shines
-Katarina Martinez
Courtesy: Your Tango