20 Mar

Empowered Ambassadors (Poem)

Who decides who we are?
Who determines how strong we can be?
A controversial topic but I will let you in on a well-kept secret,
It is us,
We are solely responsible for who we are and what we can be,
As people living with disabilities,
Labelled as the ones with frail abilities,
It is embedded at the back of our minds that,
We have to fight twice as hard to unwind perspectives,
That we are broken or defective,
It’s time to make sure these perspectives fade,
As people living with disabilities as well as HIV/AIDS,
Taking care of our mental health takes centre stage,
To let them see we can be whoever is burning sage,
Society treats people with the same respect they accord themselves,
An opportunity we can take advantage of for ourselves,
Taking back this respect through our actions,
A starting place is putting away distractions,
Working on everything we want to be should be our focus,
Blocking out all the noise of the negatives that provoke us,
Ignoring the unaware yet unnecessary stares of pity,
But rather evoking admiration and respect for moving forward,
Inspiring attitude change from the way people view us as weak,
To becoming society pillars, examples of whom they speak,
Following prescriptions to the letter,
Get acquainted with more information about HIV/AIDS,
Getting unapologetically vocal about our challenges to key policymakers,
Not forgetting to make sure our mental health is pristine and ample,
We need to be front and centre in influencing mindset change,
Write a different story about people living with disabilities on a new page,
We need to be the champions of our own cause,
We are only strong if we choose to be,
We have a one-life guarantee,
And although it may be true that we haven’t been truly living,
We can start now,
With better decision-making and fresh perspectives about ourselves.