Rise Like the River

There's a storm still humming in my bones

Lightning etched behind my eyes

I've walked through nights that swallowed me

And dared me not to rise

But dawn keeps breaking open wide

Like a mercy, like a sign

That even scorched and fragile earth

Can bloom again in time

I've carried fires in my footsteps

Burned a trail through yesterdays

But ashes teach a holy truth

What's lost still lights the way

Mountains rise from broken stone

Prairies grow from burned-out dreams

The land remembers how to heal

In ways we barely see

So I rise like the river

After rain has had its say

Strong with every mile I've traveled

Soft with every heartache

Life gets heavy, life gets wild

But I bend and I don't break

I rise like the river

Finding my own way

There's a road that runs through Kansas

Where the wheat meets endless sky

I drove it when my hope was thin

Just to watch the world survive

The wind was singing freedom songs

In a tongue older than pain

Telling me the darkest hours

Still give birth to light again

And oh, the soul is stubborn

It refuses to stay down

We are built from ancient rhythms

We are shaped by sacred sound

Every heartbeat is an uprising

Every breath a vow to stay

A testament to every woman

Who survived her hardest day

So I rise like the river

When the storm clouds roll away

Carrying the weight behind me

Facing down a brighter day

Life gets heavy, life gets wild

But I bend and I don't break

I rise like the river

Finding my own way

And the river keeps on rising

In its patient, steady grace

A quiet, holy reminder

That I too, can take my place