The Measure Within

The Measure Within

By Kassy Gold

I am not the echo of others’ praise,

Nor the silence left when voices fade.

I am the breath before the dawn,

The truth in trials I’ve walked upon.

Not carved from marble or cast in gold,

But shaped by storms both fierce and bold—

Each scar a badge, each wound a flame,

That whispers gently, You overcame.

I do not beg the world to see

The worth that pulses deep in me.

Like roots unseen beneath the tree,

My value anchors silently.

I am the architect of grace,

Not just a smile on someone’s face.

My dreams are not a borrowed song;

They rise where I have struggled long.

I am not broken, lost, or small—

I am the rise after the fall.

I am not numbers, trends, or scores;

My soul’s not kept in ledger drawers.

I am the work of patient time,

Of choices made when truth was mine.

Of standing tall when none would cheer,

Of holding hope when none was near.

I own my voice, both soft and loud.

I walk alone and walk unbowed.

For in my chest, a drumbeat sure

Declares I’m worthy, sound, and pure.

So let the world appraise its way—

I will not shrink, I will not sway.

For I have looked within and found

A wealth no price has ever bound.

I am enough.

Complete.

Profound.