You are more

Leslie D. Hamilton
Black, Brown, and Beige
2 min readJul 8, 2019
Melanin collection by I’sha Gaines

You are more

And you are just enough

And you are more than enough

And you are too much

But you are never not enough

The world gives

And the world gives back

And the world backs you into a corner

And the world corners you at your greatness

But the world never gives your strength away

You are more than what the world gives you

And you are what you give

And you give what you need to take

And you sometimes take too much

But you are always complete in the give and take

Open your mind with the s-t-r-e-t-c-h of the sunflower, following a shining orb at the center of its world

Then

S-t-r-e-t-c-h the seat of your soul with the sensual MOVEMENT of a cat flowing into its day

And

MOVE your body out of its own way with the reverence and awareness that it is a unique gift from the creator

Then

Revere your heart’s yearnings with the giddy abandonment of a child discovering puddles to jump in on a summer day

Open your mind

Stretch the seat of your soul

Move your body out of its own way

Revere your heart’s yearnings

With the s-t-r-e-t-c-h of the sunflower, following a shining orb at the center of its world

With the sensual MOVEMENT of a cat flowing into its day

With the reverence and awareness that your body is a unique gift from the creator

With the giddy abandonment of a child discovering puddles, to jump in, on a summer day

What I mean to say is that

You’ve got this life

Live it

Hold it

Love it

Release it

Decide how you will spend

each and every one

of your heartbeats

Whatever life brings you,

know that

The world gives

And the world gives back

And the world backs you into a corner

And the world corners you at your greatness

But the world never gives your strength away

Because

You are more

And you are just enough

And you are more than enough

And you are too much

But you are never not enough

--

--

Leslie D. Hamilton
Black, Brown, and Beige

A poet, storyteller and writer with an M.B.A., Leslie wants to live in a world that celebrates women, children and people of color — so she writes about it.