I was born in the space
between sacrifice and hope,
where my mother's hands folded dreams
into rice and resilience.
Where my father's silence
taught me the weight of unspoken love.
I carry more than my name-
I carry beginnings,
unfinished prayers,
the ache of being
the example and the bridge.
I've stood in rooms
where my voice shook
but did not break,
where my eyes learned
to read people's pain
like second language.
I am not soft,
but I am not hardened.
I am tempered-
like steel kissed by fire
and taught to shine.
I build futures in silence-
between shifts, between studies,
between the guilt of rest
and the glory of purpose (from God).
Some call it ambition.
But this is legacy.
This is healing backwards
and dreaming forward.
And when they ask
how I keep going,
I'll smile and say:
"I was born burning"
