Tick tock, tick tock like a clock but stuck in the same spot, while LIFE is the hand that continues to pass you by.

Stuck where minutes turn to hours, hours to days, days to years and I’m still HERE…where drug use and criminal pride is accepted, and you fit in by glorifying your crime, what kind of society is this?

Tick tock, tick tock like a clock stuck in the same spot. The men in BLUE seem to think we’re all alike, cut by the same cloth because of the matching word inmate we all have on our backs. Ha I agree…NOT. Identified by a number, not a name; we are not the same, this is the life I once chose but it’s not who I choose to remain.

I have a name. I am strong, beautiful, and independent. My heart beats just like any other human, can you hear it? Feel it? See it pounding through my chest? Am I worthy? Am I one that is a queen in my own kingdom? Do not judge me by my crimes or my past. I deserve to be loved, I am loved, I am a woman of worth, strong and powerful…hear me ROAR!

Tick tock… No longer will I allow self-hatred and doubt to own me, control me, or lock me away. The word that reads inmate on my back isn’t who I am. I am free, free to be whoever I choose to be. To live, laugh, love, cry. To make memories. To have my dreams come true.

Tick tock. I am to be whoever I want to be, whoever I dream to be. LIFE will no longer be the hand to pass me by; Stand up, get up, FIGHT.

Who am I? I am a Mother, a friend and a grand-daughter. But no really who am I? I am a survivor, a queen, a warrior. My past doesn’t define me; it’s time to scream, to shout, to let it all out. I have a VOICE and I will be HEARD.

Tick tock Stand Tall, Refuse to Fall I am ME!

-Elicia C.