One evening at Church for Neighbors I was listening to Cory speak and he was really piercing my heart. He spoke about how humans who are in a priveleged position develop a notion that they are entitled to all of the things they have- that they “need” them- and on the opposite end of the spectrum there are people with nothing who lay themselves down for others. Be that person.

I grew up really spoiled and taken care of and it was hard to look outside of that lens to really understand all the self-sacrifice it took for my parents to give us our comfortable lives.

It wasn’t until I decided to move out of my parents' house and ended up living in the ghetto with an asbestos problem that my dependency on all the things that were handed to me started to be stripped away and my journey of inner strength and resourcefulness began.

I went home that night and wrote this poem as a commitment to take Cory’s advice: fight the notion that you should not have not.

Thank you Cory!

**

He said fight the notion
That you should not
Have not

Im struck dead with all my havenots
Wishes left for dead
Memories unspoken but dreadful
I have had everything but
My cup has been so empty

We fill our hearts if we want peace
Bus rides for $ 2.50
I want a car I want a new body I want a clean slate I want male attention I need

People to love me
I have so much
Letting go of those notions that
Kept me dead
Filling my head with only breath
I hold it sometimes and keep it from myself
But i will always have the trees feeding my lungs and spirit

I am a woman that has and has not
I give it all up to just exist