Testimony

Verbal stories have been

Passed down throughout generation throughout all of time

We speak of loves and of family and of triumphant battles

Of heartbreak of loneliness of our greatest falls

And as I sit here with you all and listen to your words intermingle

I for the first time in a long time

Feel the bravery to remember my own

To sit down with myself with my own truth and

Remember the worn folded pages

With scratched out words and

Think about the story of my life

And wrestle with my demons

As you speak of overcoming them

And I hear the chains breaking off of you off of me

and I hear the sound

Of freedom ringing

A heavy heart and a tired soul at peace with their own truth

And the healing to be found in its midst

This is the power of empathy

of shared truths

of testimony