Dignity.

Little one,
you won’t find dignity in
the App Store of your latest iPhone,
and it’s not discoverable in those awful videos with those sad girls who writhe around on the hoods of those expensive cars.

Dignity is in the quiet clench of your strong jaw when you are studying.
So study.
Dignity is in the lovely curve of your mother’s cheek.
So appreciate her.
Dignity is the way you stand up when he or anyone tries to make you feel less than you are.
So stand up.

Stop learning how to twerk,
and work:
For your goals, for your future, for your self-respect.

Dignity may belie the volcano beneath,
but it isn’t a lie.
It means you’re holding yourself up and high–
Fall apart in the cool corner of your bedroom if you want, but you’ll get up anyway because by now you’ve learned that it all passes.
All of it and everything.

Because dignity is everything.

Not him. He’s not everything.

You are.