Where did I come from and where am I going
Where is a mother to show me the way
Held in my body, a lifetime of knowing
This pain is the price I must pay

So many questions, each one forbidden
I was taught only to listen and trust
I learned to keep my truest self hidden
So deferential and hushed

So where do I begin
Gasping for breath where the air is thin
Who I am both in spite and because of where I’ve been
Can I start again

I am a traveler, finding my pathway
Emerging from expectations left behind
Stamp out the past like a stub in an ashtray
From now on the choices are mine

But how do I begin
At long last inhabiting my own skin
Who I am both in spite and because of where I’ve been
Can I start again

I know that I will stand
With or without a friend
Cause I am a mother to myself
And anyone else who needs to start again

So here’s where I begin
Holding the hand of the child within
Who we are both in spite and because of where we’ve been
But we can start again