Birthright, by Vivian Hadding from Songs for the Dragon King

Sometimes I feel there are no such things as dreams

Just fantasies we invent to protect ourselves from reality

But ever the dreamer...the believer

I look about me to the miracles in disguise

The blessings and friendships I've been given

Given, for in truth I sometimes feel I deserved them not

And worth is our spirit's power

Worth is our spirit's truth

Is it any wonder worth is the first thing our enemies try to strip us of

The thing they strive so desperately to deny us

A loss of worth is just another way to control...to disrobe our Divineness

Our sacredness, our strength

We have a choice

A daily vow

We can embrace our hopes or Their fears

Their fears, because we first tasted those fears through their lips

First witnessed it through their eyes

Through their self loathing and its manipulation of our trust

And who are they...

They are the ones that did not dare to fight

They are the ones that lost their way just miles from the gate

They are the ones who by their smallness needed to micro-regulate

They are the ones who let the memories of past aches rule their lives

They are the ones that could not let go and move on

Such appears the journey of life

Hurt and healing forever mingle in a jar...a body filled with starlight

When we focus on the pain, the fear, the loss then the star's promise is drained

When we tenaciously hang on with faith despite the odds, the nay-sayers, the pain

Then a dream far better than any we could have imagined is birthed.