Be the Lighthouse - Poem

Five voices. One truth. A rising light.

We were five.

Five lives—interconnected, yet apart.
Each carrying what was spoken and unspoken.
Each shaped by experiences no child should have to make sense of.

Our stories were not the same.
But each of us carried pain we didn’t choose.

We learned to survive.

We built our armour.
We wore the mask.
We kept going—
Again.
And again.

Five silent journeys.
Five private battles.

Each searching for:
Connection.
Belonging.
Safety.
Validation.
Worth.

Love.

Our journeys shaped us:
Our relationships.

Our careers.
Our friendships.
Our sense of self.

We were once five little sisters—
laughing, playing, full of life.

But in time, suffering and survival scattered us.

Disconnected.
Each walking their own path.
Each carrying what could not yet be spoken.

Five sisters.
Now five women.

Mothers. Wives. Daughters. Aunties. Friends.
A family, holding love and pain in equal measure.

And then—
something shifted.

The weight of silence became too great.
One voice found its way forward.

Not alone.
Not leading.

But opening a space.
An invitation.

Gradually, voices met voices.
Stories met understanding.
Truth met compassion.

Step by step—
we began to stand together.

It stops here.

No more shame.
No more silence.
No more looking away.

We will no longer protect those who should be named.
We will no longer accept the unacceptable.

We choose to be the change.

We choose to speak.
To honour ourselves and one another.
To offer forgiveness—where it serves healing.
To walk the path of transformation.

There is no war to fight.

Only truth to tell.
Compassion to offer.
Safe spaces to build.

Now, five paths move closer.
Five voices rise stronger.
Five sisters lift one another.

We are not trapped in the past.
We are shaping the future.

Together we stand.
Together we heal.
Together we grow.

Together—
we are the lighthouse.

Guiding each other.
Lighting the way for those yet to find their voice.

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