Inspired by real life and Channing's Reason musings :)

I was not born with ethics
I was born with instincts
But experience
Has taught me to be thoughtful
To consider others
Wear their shoes
And choose love
Above fear

Relish the challenge
Of life’s obstacles
And demands on our courage
With a childlike enthusiasm
For the lessons learned
And values earned
In tough times

Every time we leap
We end up further down the road
With a lighter load
The fighter in us knows
That future battles
Will not rattle our cages
Like earlier stages
We won these stripes,
These rights,
These wisdoms
And it is our place to face
Dark places
Not erase
The traces of past failures
But spring from them
Bring from them
New knowledge

Share the truths
Beware the loops
We circled, static

To be erratic
Is to be authentic