I believe that people are people. Everyone deserves to be treated equally, regardless of age, gender, nationality, or title. All forms of life are equal in significance. Animals, humans, plants, we all breathe on this Earth. I believe that all life belongs here, tethered to this ground or breaching the skies. The deer in the woodland, the birds on the mountain, the trees by the river, should be here. The mother cradling her child on a crowded subway, the police officer conducting rush hour traffic because the lights blew out from a storm, they are both one in the same. A hardworking mother, a leading officer, a tired teacher, an overworked store clerk, they all are born equal parts of flesh and blood. Our bones are made to break, our hearts are made to beat an endless rhythm until our heavy lungs give out. We are burning amber in the sun and cooling charcoal in the winter, a watering hole that always gives in the spring. We are the changing leaves that surpass this bed of stars in our sky during autumn, ever so fickle our lifespan, and ever so beautiful all the more.
There are whispering flames entangled in the marrow of our bones, fragmented ice pulling at our veins. We bleed until there is nothing left, marching forward like those wooden trains we played with as kids. Through the tunnel of darkness and into the light, always facing adventure with a grimace or a smile. It does not matter how you feel venturing into that tunnel, how the shadows envelop fragile windows and shatter your delicate skin; the darkness swallowing your spirit whole in its terrifying wake. What matters is how you are upon leaving the tunnel and traversing into the light. That binding, brilliant light that peers down at you, you and your feeble form that lies hopeless. The light that gives you a chance, a risk that you take, a door that you open, just to get a taste of what freedom is like. You bask in the liberty you are given, the life that was either graced or forced upon you. Sometimes, you love it, while other times, you cannot stand it.
The world can tear you apart, break every limb in your fragile body, ruin the trust you once felt in your heart for eternity. You may never truly trust again, may never understand what love is or if it even exists at all. Your life can hurt you, but it can also heal you. The choices you are eventually given, the decisions you are allowed to make for yourself, that is how life can be wonderful. Starting out, you may feel trapped in a rotting cage with iron shackles and a sandalwood soul, that can be so easily bended and nearly broken. Your body, mind, heart, lungs, skin, everything is so fragile and bruised beyond complete repair. You may never be able to fully mend yourself, but you can heal enough to see past the pain. I believe that everyone deserves to have a choice in what they want their life to be, and I know that every single form of life on this planet is equal. We are one, our lives that leave us tainted, weeping, and smiling, are all real. This is the truth of life, and how we are a part of it. All you have to do for a place on this earth, is breathe. There are no other requirements just to be here and exist. You are accepted by life. All of us are wooden trains tethered to the tracks of our earth.