In Loving Memory of Nicole Annicia Ware

We Remember

We give because we remember

We do not give from what is left
We give from what we know

We give because we remember
What it feels like
to be spoken over
to be told
you are not ready
not worthy
not enough

We remember the weight of silence
how it clings to the bones
when no one calls your name in a room full of light

So we give
not because we have so much
but because we have been through so much
and survived it
and saw others who did not

We do not wait for perfection
We see brilliance in broken places
We speak life where others see ruin
We believe
again
and again
and again

There is no shame in beginning
No shame in stumbling
No shame in having once been forgotten
There is only truth
and rising
and voice
and choice

We open the door wide
not to show what we built
but to remind others
that they can build too
from ashes
from nothing
from stories that were almost lost

We teach what we know
We share what we have
Because someone once did that for us
And it saved us

That is why we give
That is why we serve
That is why we stay

Because we are still becoming
And we are not going alone