Friendship

Patient listening
Absorbing my affliction:
Unspooling. 

Affirming words
Spoken with conviction:
Needle threading. 

Unwavering concern
Overflowing with affection:
Knotting the end. 

Personal struggles
Offered as connection:
Piercing through scar tissue. 

Unconditional embrace
Free of intuition:
Stitches weaving in and out. 

Luminescent empathy
Reaching its fruition:
Excess strands are tied and cut. 

My heart is sewn back together.

Promise

I’m sorry
I did not protect you.

I believed her when she said
You weren’t enough.
I believed him when he said
You were too much.
I believed them when they said
You needed to conform.

But I will fight for you now.

I will disarm the bulldozers
Who deny your lived reality.
I will slap away the hands
That try to toss you aside.
I will slay the demons
Who whisper in your ear
That you are invisible.

If you trip on the cracked asphalt,
I will help you back to your feet.
If they drive away and leave you behind,
I will turn around and come back for you.
If you get lost exploring off-road trails,
I will not rest until I find you
And wrap you in a warm blanket.  

I will not shove you in the vault
When I’m afraid of what they will think.
I will not stay silent
While they describe you as inherently broken.
I will not disrespect you
By saying your presence is a burden
That no one should have to bear. 

Your
Existence
Is
Beautiful. 

When I look in
The Mirror,
I see the
Tattered mask
You had to wear
As Armor
While I was absent.

You are not alone anymore.
I am here with you now.
I love you.

Failure is the Only Option

There is no way to learn

If something is right

Without finding out

How it is wrong.

Fall on your face.

Bleed.

Feel ashamed.

Hide.

Find some footing.

Slip.

Let the scars remind you

That you tried.

Hold out your hand.

Share the weight.

Begin to heal.

Joy will peak through

The cracks of your wounds

As they mend.

Let the scars remind you

That you lived.

Now do it all again.

Listen

Stop.

Wait and listen.

What can you decipher from the sounds deep down?

Don’t let the buzzing drown it out.

Focus on the thumps,

The stirs,

The pumping.

It may be faint, but it yearns to be heard.

Let it speak.

Let it sing.

Let the voice inside confide in you.

Accept its truth.

Accept its love.

Accept the shift the gift imbues.

For it to be felt, you must feel it.

For it to be seen, you must see it.

For it to be heard, you must hear it.

Quiet.

Wait and listen.

Just listen.