I was poured into a country
Like rain into old stone ground
Learning the taste of the soil
Learning what settles down
They said this is how we move here
This is the shape of the stream
So I swallowed the weather quietly
And carried it inside of me

Some skies lean gentle on faces
Some burn without apology
We call it fate, call it normal
Call it the way things have to be

I don’t have to keep
What the river gave me
I don’t have to wear
Every inherited scar
If the water learned poison
It can learn how to be clean
I can choose what I carry
From where I’ve been

Every flag hides a fracture
Every song bends a note
What we call pride at home
Is a warning in another throat
We polish our habits to virtues
Point at cracks overseas
Forgetting the mirror
Was ever meant for me

They never expect you to notice
The accent buried in your breath
Never expect you to question
What you were handed at birth

I don’t have to keep
What the river gave me
I don’t have to march
To an old refrain
If the current taught cruelty
It can teach restraint
I can unlearn the weather
In my veins

There are ghosts in the family ledger
Rust in the titles we wear
Years that teach us bad habits
And call it wisdom instead of despair
Stack blood on badge on calendar page
And the weight starts to show
A shape that walks like a person
But moves like a warning we know

So I filter my words in silence
Let the silt fall away
Listening for the things in me
That don’t need to stay

I don’t have to keep
What the river gave me
I don’t owe my faults
To a map or a name
If water can change the stone
I can change the claim
I’ll choose what I carry
I’ll choose what remains

Let them say I’m unexpected
Out of season, out of line
I’m just weather learning freedom
Learning how to redefine
I came from the storm
But I don’t have to be the rain