Beautiful Now

I was dust in the corners
Ashes in the rain
I wore all my wounds
Like it was my name
I learned how to smile
With cracks in my crown
Calling myself living
While bleeding out loud
Left trying to stitch worth
From the scraps
I had left
Measured my value
By who
I impressed
I carried my guilt
Like a second skin
Every mirror
Reminded me where
I'd been
But then you spoke mercy
Where shame used to breathe
You called me beloved before
I believed
You didn't erase me
You didn't pretend