And I am again a girl
riding in the front seat
on the school field trip
while the cool kids
bounce around in the back
and We Are the Champions
comes on the radio. I
can only make out the chorus,
and only bits of that,
but when they sing
“No time for losers,” I
am sure they’re speaking of me,
and I wonder what it would
be like to be a champion
of the world.
Forty years later, I
am, perhaps, a champion
for the world. I believe in
kindness, in blossoming
out of brokenness, in
the resilience hardwired
into our bodies, our
brains, our hearts. I
believe in the power
of a song to change
the way we see ourselves.
I believe that when Freddie
sang We, he meant all of us,
my friends, all of us
the champions, rising together,
fighting till the end.