i am not made of stardust

when i was a child, i was told we were made of stardust.
i used to spend countless summers pretending -
pretending that we were in our 1000th summer;
dreaming of being floating girls whose feet would never quite stay on the ground.

but childhood must end and so must the pretending.
and with growing up sometimes comes
trauma
heart break
abuse
neglect
and even
one-sided love.

i pushed through the mud - that swallowing despair.
i pushed through the grit - that angry heartbreak.
i reached out and gasped for air and,
by myself,
i stood up on my own two feet.

i am not made of stardust.
i am so much more.