stil I raise

Clock in, clock out, chasing time

School bells ring, but peace don’t chime

Family dinners with silent wars

Faith feels distant behind closed doors

Society says “Be this, not that”

Religion says “Don’t slip, don’t crack”

But I’m just trying to breathe and grow

To find the light in what I know

Still I rise — through the chaos and the noise

Still I rise — with a whisper, not a voice

I’ve been broken, I’ve been bruised

But I won’t be misused

Still I rise — not perfect, not clean

But I’m learning what life really means

I’ve juggled dreams with dirty hands

Built my hope on shifting sands

But every fall taught me grace

Every scar became a place

Where truth could bloom, where love could stay

Where I could learn to walk away

From guilt, from shame, from fear disguised

As rules that kept me paralyzed

I’m not what they expect to see

I’m more than work, more than degree

I’m soul and sweat, I’m faith and fight

I’m wrong and right on the same night

Still I rise — through the doubt and the strain

Still I rise — through the loss and the pain

I’ve been tested, I’ve been torn

But I’m reborn every morn

Still I rise — with no map, no script

Just a heart that won’t quit

Still I rise — and I choose the climb

Balancing chaos, one step at a time

---