Hey there, sweet stranger

I see the way you hide

Bottling everything up inside

I read your words over and over

Knowing you're just on the verge

Of finally breaking apart

So let me protect your heart

I see you, sweet stranger

And all your works of art

I feel your pain deep inside

You never need to hide

Not from me

Seeds, too, were surrounded by darkness
before they became anew—
held close by the quiet earth,
pressed into silence so deep
it swallowed the memory of the sky.

Did they mourn the light they had never known?
Did they fear the weight above them,
or trust the unknowable forces
that buried them so?

And when they split themselves apart,
breaking open to grow,
was it with joy,
or was it pain
that gave way to life?

What, then, of us?

the most hurt
comes from the people that don't understand you

and most problems
come from the people that do