A/N: Written for the Favorite Character Boot Camp (#22 life) and the Favorite Era Boot Camp (#14 options). Cho Chang.
Advice on Walking
Walk powerfully,
my father told me when I was thirteen
and still tripping over too-long limbs.
I walked with my shoulders hunched back then,
determined not to look boys in the eyes,
falling into the shadows
instead of screaming my name to the world.
Walk powerfully,
my father told me when I was sixteen
and rehearsing every step I made.
I followed other girls back then,
forcing laughs at their juvenile jokes
instead of making my own.
Walk powerfully,
my father told me when I was twenty-two
and not walking at all.
I was in love with a distant man back then,
separated by a chasm of happenstance,
grasping at someone I couldn't have.
Walk powerfully,
my father told me,
because a woman's world
is set by her stride.