Rax Baker

GOLD

Here I am

on top of the podium

on top of the world

looking down at it

instead of up

for a change

My heart cannot contain

the emotions, the elation

they spill into my shining face

and are reflected

in an ocean of smiles and flags

whose cheering surf crashes over me

I immerse myself in this moment

a hard-won summit of my years

of pain, of sweat, of tears

In this moment

the world sees me

the world sees a winner

someone who took what life handed them

and found the strength and the courage

to forge it into something better

In this moment

the world is focused

on what I can do

not on what I can’t

In this moment

the world sees a golden athlete

not a leaden cripple

In this moment

it doesn’t matter that I have wheels

where legs should be

In this moment

the world understands

that the Gold

is inside

© Rax Baker