For those who have danced through storms

I have seen the way a voice can tremble

before it learns to sing

how a step can falter

before it dares to dance.

I have watched the sky split open,

as names once whispered

rose like banners to the sun

each syllable, a quiet revolution.

I do not know the weight

of silence worn for years,

nor the sharp seam of glances

that ask too much, or not enough.

But I have seen the way your light persists

not in spite of shadow,

but having walked through it.

I have witnessed love

that needs no permission,

joy that blooms wild through concrete cracks,

truth that moves like water,

filling the shape of every heart it meets.

This is no small thing.

To become oneself,

again and again,

in a world still learning how to listen.

So here’s to the ones who have carved space

where there was none

who have turned grief to glitter,

who have taught the sky new colors,

who remind us all

that love is many things,

but never wrong.