You, First

This is you. You meet yourself
before you step into the morning,
before the flood
of all the to dos,
and should have dones,
before you square your shoulders
to face the day

This is you even before the ever hopeful
sense of yourself
gets up again
to see if things will go your way,
before the wistful sense
puts on its cloak of competence,
acceptability, arranges its opinions
and steps out into the fray

This is you before you win,
before you lose,
before you look in the mirror
or open your mouth.
This is you. You have your back.
You never need to step down
from your true essence
and your strength is plenty
to hold up the world.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 19, 2020