Tomorrow it is my new birthday

I get to begin again

My ego has extinguished

As the girl who once was your friend

Tomorrow I start over

Tread on this world lighthearted

Relinquish my claim to inheritance

Of invasion, predation, where the pain started

Tomorrow I will step into myself

Glittering in the sun around my eyes

Moonbeams once pulsing through my fingers

Will abolish my souls’ historic cries

Tomorrow I honor my true beginnings

The steadfast, solid, the core

They held me, saved me, cradled a starving child

Tomorrow, I become me, Anita Moore.

Earle and Juanita Moore, better known as Maw Maw and Paw Paw to all of you. They helped me to be the resilient person I have been. I change my last name in their honor, and give myself permission to be loved and appreciated as the woman I have become.