You Cannot Break Me

by Joanne Ware, age 13, from US

Her degrading words will never break me,
He will not succeed,
Yet day by day,
Week by week,
My confidence falls along with me into a deep black pit,
Screaming please let me go,
The hands that grasp me, with their ever tightening grip
My voice now less than a hoarse whisper,
Why do you delight in torturing me so?
How can this anguish bring you joy?
I draw from the courage of my people,
A courage I never knew I had,
From a people I have never met,
Yet I know them better than any friend of mine,
Their blood coursing through my veins,
Hot with rage, passion, and resentment to the oppressors
From years of silent resistance I build upon a solid foundation,
I have been pushed down before,
But I have never broken a leg,
I always stand proud and true by my beliefs,
No one can make me compromise myself,
Neither words nor blows can break my spirit,
The spirit of a hundred thousand people,
Singing out loud and proud, "I think can, I know I can, I did."
'Cause with a hundred voices singing who can hear lousy whistle blow Blowing out orders to empty ears,
Who cast them away like petals upon a dying flower,
A cause once more powerful than any one could imagine,
Now a futile attempt to regain the grasp they once had,
But the fingers have loosened their grip,
And I push them aside,
And with more power than my own I climb above the pit and stand up to them,
For they can not break me,
And they never will.