I have heard
that the sky is the limit
but I do not want to stop
until I touch the sun
and dance
in the moon’s pearly crescent.

The only thing keeping me
from conquering every inch of the cosmos
is the atmosphere
of apathy, excuses, and fear
that form a black cloud around my core.
They are the chains that tie me down,
the chains that I refuse to cut
because I am afraid
that if I do, I will float right up to the sun
and get burned as soon as I touch it.

I am afraid, in essence, of failing
on a very large and public scale
and therefore I refuse to set foot
on even the smallest of metaphorical stages.

But for all that fear, I have a greater fear
That in my smallness,
I will sacrifice someone else’s liberation
I don’t want anything to hold me down.
I don’t want to hold anyone else down.
The only limits are the ones you set for yourself.