… and I can’t help but wonder how freeing it felt to fly.

Your skin is the color of bark on trees that have been here through every hurricane.

Your skin is the color of soil that brings life and replenishes the earth.

Brown is soft, silky, and sophisticated. 

Your skin is comfort and reliability. 

They said your skin was the color of dirt as an insult… 

But they didn't know that brown was the color of mountains that stood tall no matter how many people stepped on them. 

Your brown skin is strength, beauty, and acceptance. 

Your brown skin is beautiful.

how do I look at pictures of us and be okay with you just being a memory...

I know it's getting bad when the four walls and popcorn ceiling of my room are the highlights of my day.

I know it's getting bad when spontaneous trips to the beach become intentional trips to the bathroom.

I know it's getting bad when jeans turn into week old sweatpants and blouses turn into t shirts I dug out the ***** clothes bin.

I know it's getting bad when I force myself out of bed five minutes before I have to make it to class and I don't have the energy to brush my teeth.

I know it's getting bad when the blue light from my phone is brighter than the loving light from my family.

I know it's getting bad...

but I don't know how to make it okay again.

When he called himself a bottomless pit I should have listened.


He stole my flame and spit out me out like I was nothing more than gunk stuck between his teeth.

To me our light was brighter than the sun.
To him our light was a flame lit by a match.
To me our light was limitless.
To him our light was ephemeral.

there are millions of stars the sky
. . .
but the One still catches my eye every night