every day is a trade-off
between risking and reaching
speaking up or staying safe
living between the promise and the pain
when our very existence
is exhausting
is contested
is paradoxical
is unreliable, invalidated, disbelieved
when our health disparities
are so obvious and real
yet so unseen, undocumented, dismissed
when we live between worlds
the kingdom of the sick
the kingdom of the well
invisibly in both
but not fully in any
when the burden of proof
the burden of education
the burden of paperwork
the burden of illness
the burden of existing
the burden of inaccessible support
and unavailable accessibility
a thousand extra miles to crawl
before the starting line is in reach
when this life, this world
this perspective and all it brings
the curiosity, the complexity
the insight, the oracles
the comfort with uncertainty
the systemic and unspoken
is obvious in our bones
but oblivious in our books
this precious life
this precious voice
this precious paradox
nestled between the promise and the pain