Guy Gael Ingabire

WHEN THE SHADOW WAS FORGING ME

I was there... 

Sitting on the edge of silence, 

Eyes drowned in the void of my own absences. 

I listened to the mute cries of my soul, 

Felt my strength slipping away... 

As if I were in flames.

 

I was but a reflection of myself, 

A shattered gleam in a mirror without theme. 

My steps faltered, my dreams fled, 

I was slowly fading, unseen by anyone.

 

The shadow, I wore it like a night cloak, 

Each breath was heavy, each thought a noise. 

I was a prisoner of my own chains, 

A willing slave to my sorrows.

 

But... 

That\'s when emergence whispered.

 

Not a scream. 

Just a breath. 

A timid murmur that told me: 

\"You\'re not finished.\" 

\"You can rise again.\"

 

I doubted. Yes. 

But I understood that doubt is the flip side of courage. 

So I looked within, instead of fleeing, 

I plunged into my ruins to build anew. 

Each scar spoke to me, each pain taught me that the real battle begins when you choose... life.

 

The shadow? I knew it. 

But I bought the weight of light within it. 

I saw the light, not as a distant promise, 

But as a spark hidden in my veins. 

It wasn\'t outside. It was there,

Waiting for me to dare say \"I believe.\"

 

I took back my words like one takes back a weapon, 

Not to wound, but to heal my tears. 

I wrote, I cried out, I slammed, 

I understood that my voice could rekindle the darkness. 

And here I am, standing, 

Proud of my flaws, solid despite doubts. 

What I was is not a shame, it was just the root of a rising tree.

 

Emergence awakened me. 

It handed me the mirror of truth: 

That consciousness is not a gift, it\'s a choice. A decision. A revolution.

 

You who listen to me, there, at the back of the room, 

You who fight in silence, in the darkness of your mind, 

Know this: 

The flame that lights you may be weak... but it still burns. 

And as long as it burns, you\'re not finished.

 

Today, I walk... 

Not because everything is perfect. 

But because I accepted to become the fire... after having been the ash.

 

Look at me well. 

I am the living proof that fire can be reborn from ashes, 

That silence can give birth to voice, 

That even in the fall, a leap is prepared.

 

And if I can rise... So can you. 

For every fall carries within it the promise of a flight. 

Every silence hides a melody ready to bloom. 

Don\'t let the shadow define your light. 

You are stronger than your fears, greater than your doubts,

So, rise, walk, and become the hero of your own story.

 

Today, I slam, 

Not to weep, but to proclaim: 

\"Emergence is me, Awakening is now.\"