**** doesn’t always hide
At parties and outside clubs
**** doesn’t always hide
In dark alleys and empty parking lots
Sometimes it is right in front of you
But you choose to look the other way
**** doesn’t always hide
Behind the faces of strangers in the night
Sometimes it is hiding behind the closed doors
Of your uncles
Cousins
Fathers
And brothers
**** isn’t always loud-
Screaming, yelling, and crying
Sometimes **** is quiet-
Gasping for air and silent tears

She was powerful,
not because she wasn't scared,
but because she went on strongly,
despite the fear.

~Aishah

Your promises come out
as pre-splintered words,
already having a tarnish.
And yet I am hopeful,
always, that I may be able
to pick them up, rub them
with my shirtsleeve just so,
and see the gleam of a true
promise. But no matter how I try,
how tenderly I handle the pieces
of your intentions, they always
crumble in my fingers,
confetti litter on the floor.

Letting them win,
all those who hurt you,
made you question yourself,
and put you down
isn't in the form of a wall.
Put your defenses up,
but remember to let it down
from time to time
for those who matter.

When their actions
freeze your heart through,
you turn as cold as they,
when you can't be content,
and happiness is all but a lie,
then that is
letting them win.