03:04

The Crown

by Liza Gilbert, MLS

Rated
4.8
Type
talks
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
670

This poem is for anyone who has doubted their value, made mistakes, or felt embarrassed. We all have the right and the option of crowning ourselves as whoever we want to be, no matter what has happened, what we have lost, or what we fear. Here's to us.

AcceptanceResilienceCompassionReflectionOptimismSelf RelianceSelf WorthMistakesEmbarrassmentEmpowermentFearSelf AcceptanceSelf CompassionSelf Reflection

Transcript

My coronation had no robes,

No crown of diamonds and pearls.

It came and went without a crowd.

No dukes or barons or earls.

I just arrived one afternoon,

A human of a different kind.

Not even sure what day it was,

But,

Well,

Never mind.

What I had seen as battles,

Others still do fight.

What once had seemed momentous is now someone else's plight.

All the fear and embarrassment,

The guilt and all the shame,

From everything I did wrong,

Now has a royal name.

That's not to say I'm special.

No,

That's not it at all.

One afternoon it simply clicked.

I do not have to fall.

The world is hard,

And that's the truth.

I would never say it's not.

The world is hard,

And that's the truth.

But it's really all we've got.

I am small,

Less than a speck of what the universe holds.

I'm not a president of anything,

And I don't own any gold.

And that is how I crowned myself,

By what I do and do not own,

By what has been taken from me and what will always be mine alone.

I'm proud of who I am and all I bring to light.

I'm proud of all the times I've stood up after a fight.

I'm proud to have the understanding most of the fights were with myself.

I'm proud to have learned when I most need to ask for help.

So I can keep on swinging in a one-person boxing match,

Beating up myself for all the things I didn't catch.

Or I can remember that I am the one who,

When something goes awry,

Runs toward the problem to help instead of passing by.

As for all I screwed up,

No one's counting as hard as me.

And I have crowned myself as one who would always prefer to see that I am not alone.

There are others who run my way.

Whether or not I know them really holds no sway.

I'll take this hard world,

Both good and bad,

With optimism unblinking.

For all that's wrong,

I'll keep the faith.

I'm the Queen of Wishful Thinking.

Meet your Teacher

Liza Gilbert, MLSLa Crosse, WI, USA

4.8 (112)

Recent Reviews

Louise

February 15, 2026

I absolutely love your poems! Thank you again. I love the way you think. Also, you read them beautifully.

California

April 15, 2024

Love ypur poetry… it sounds like it comes from many deep hurts which you have had to overcome

Jodie

October 5, 2023

Wow, this is truly beautiful ❤️ Thank you for sharing 👏

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© 2026 Liza Gilbert, MLS. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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