I look out at the faces of the people on the street;

each one has their own story of victory and defeat.

I wonder, as I pass them, is their tale ever told

and do they understand the gifts their stories hold?

Those ugly truths about us that are our beauty’s core;

the parts of us we would deny behind our facades’ door.

But we cannot have the beauty without that ugly base

and so we must accept both sides with an equal grace.

For in us all there’s cowardice just as there is glory,

it’s how we reconcile the past that really tells our story.

There is no love that is complete without that other feeling;

there is no pleasure can be felt if pain’s not sent us reeling.

For we cannot know the pleasure if we do not know the pain

and insanity only exists because we all think that we’re sane.

So really, when I think on it, we need all states of being,

because it is diversity that is our hearts true freeing.