There are series I've come to watch
that I never knew would touch me
the way they do now.
This recent one about boxing. Big, muscular bodies,
tough eyes, tough mouth, balled fists,
blood, and sweat. When the protagonist
was bullied, a boxer helped him to his feet
and now he's a champion. What does it mean
to be strong? He asks himself and can't find the
answer even as he holds the belt for the
first time. I'm not a champion at all.
I'm awkward, got a sinking feeling in my
stomach when I'm stressed, hide my
face behind my hair when I'm surrounded by
strangers and give nervous, quiet laughs
at the stories of a boy, hands shake as he
brushes my skin gently.
What does it mean to be strong?
There are mornings I don't want to get up
but I do anyway, again and again, and maybe
that's the answer we've been searching for.
-Angela Soyen Enconado
What Our Alarm Clocks Should Say
13