Don’t tell me to smile.
Don’t tell me it will be alright.
Don’t tell me to move on.
Don’t tell me to cheer up.
I am hurting, and I am allowed to.
That is how I ‘move on’.
By feeling,
By being,
By accepting the pain as my own.
This is how I grow.
This is how I grieve.
Let me be.
And don’t tell me to smile.
Because I’m tired of others telling me how they want me to feel.