don't be afraid to dream
because dreams were made for you
and you were made to dream.
darling,
close your eyes,
and let your soul be surprised
by the fire kindled in your heart
and the spark that lights your eyes.
so darling,
close your eyes,
and let your soul be surprised
and let it marvel at the dreams
that were planted in your heart
and just like wildflowers,
let them bloom.
but darling,
don't be surprised
when the wildflowers blossom
and your dreams come true.

i give you myself
every time i write a poem
every word is a thread from my soul
every letter stands for a heartbeat
i will always have words for you.
i do not know how else to love.

i am waiting for a poem
a poem that is waiting for me
a poem that sits on the night like a star
a poem i did not write but instead lived
i am waiting for words
words that aren’t empty
words strong enough to carry this story
words raw and meaningful and unafraid
i am waiting for answers
answers to questions
answers to life
answers to this waiting
i am waiting for love
love that makes songs out of moments
love like coffee and milk
love that heals
i am waiting
i am waiting
waiting for me.

call me complicated,
but how can i settle for less
than what i want?
call me complicated,
but i think you’re just scared of me,
of the music my bones sing,
of the wildness of my spirit
and how my hair has a life of its own
i think you know i am too much of a woman for you
and it scares you

9:24 am: i am cleaning my room and singing along to an ed sheeran song. i thought of me, cleaning our house, and you, leaning against the doorframe and smiling at me.

1:24 pm: it has been raining all day and i am wondering if you believe in the beauty and magic of rain like i do and how perfect it would be if our first kiss took place on a rainy afternoon like this one.

1:26 pm: i refuse to entertain the thought that the two thoughts i've had of you were exactly four hours apart means something. but secretly i hope it does.

3:54 pm: will i think of you at 11:11 tonight?

4:19 pm: will i love you even when you make spelling mistakes?

9:24 pm: i wrote a poem today about my high standards and i thought of you and how you won't be afraid of pursuing me, of loving my heart. i thought of your fearless heart and how it will love me the way i am.

9:28 pm: i am thinking of the number 24 and how at the 24 minutes of three different hours you popped into my head. did you think of me today? did the thought of me make you smile? do you wonder about me, the color of my hair, the shape of my face, the song of my heart?

9:32 pm: my heart sometimes wonders if it's pointless to think of you, because maybe there isn't a you. but my soul tells my heart that i think of you, and therefore you are.

10:24 pm: before i close my eyes, i hope to think of you. and after i close them, i know i'll dream of you. and if it happens at the twenty-fourth minute of whatever hour it is, i won't be too surprised.

10:27 pm: i am starting to believe that 24 is a magic number.

here we are.
and i don't know if we understand
the power of that,
if we understand
the wonder,
the odds,
the millions of seconds
and everything that had to happen
for us to be here.
here we are,
we are walking miracles,
we are breathing art,
we are glory and stars
and grace
living in a house of bones and flesh.

one day,
i will fly.
i will fly above pain,
i will fly above sorrow,
and that day might not be tomorrow,
but i'll fly.
i'll fly to the moon,
to the highest cloud,
i'll fly over the damning crowd
that said i wouldn't soar.
oh, i'll fly.
i'll open up my big brave wings,
in myself i will believe,
and i'll fly and i will sing
and i will be all that i was meant to be
when i fly.

i am more than this.
more than the night in which
my tears fall like rain,
watering the soil that is my soul.
i am more than this.
more than the words i do not know yet,
the feelings i cannot sing.
i am more than this.
more than the stars that
turn the night into day.
i am more than this.
more than this moment,
and all the ones before it.

joy shines through
the darkness and
the bitterness of the
season you’re walking through.
it shines through
your heart and your soul
and who you are because
you refuse to let your
joy be stolen.
instead, you give it away,
sprinkling and scattering
and showering everyone
you run into with streams
and beams and rays of
this pure and immaculate
bliss, this real joy
that doesn’t waver,
that doesn’t stumble,
that never ends,
that never fades,
that never goes away.
it’s a fountain, it’s a river
that comes from
living water,
a river that never
stops running,
a river that brings
life to everything
that surrounds it.

your worth doesn't come from
the things you've done or
the things you'll do or
the color of your skin or
the way you dress or
the way you look.

your worth doesn't come from
the words people have labeled you with or
what they think of you or
how many people follow you on twitter.
your worth doesn't even come from you.

it comes from the fact
that you are here
that you're alive
that you haven't given up on life
that you're still fighting
and smiling
even when you're falling apart.

your worth is yours and
no one can take that away from you.

lips find
lips find lips
find lips
hands find
hands find hands
find hands
skin finds
skin finds skin
finds skin
i find you
you find me

let the poems
live in you.
let the words know you.
let them wear you
like a skin.
then
you will know them.
they will burst out from you
like flowers on the ground
and you will be the spring.

listen to the music of raindrops,
singing,
“you are growing,
you are a flower
and you will bloom.”

with your hands You
hung the stars in the sky
and know them all by name.
You put the sun and moon
in their places and
with your hands You
made the roaring seas
and majestic mountains
and those same hands that
hung the stars and
placed the sun and moon and
made the seas and mountains
made this heart.

i know,
i know
all is written
i know these are the same twenty-six letters
you have seen before
arranged differently
but this is my voice
these are my words
and for a moment
only i know them
and this is their beauty:
that i write them
and you read them

You own
the skies
the stars
the seas
the mountains
the valleys
and You want
my heart.

with every sunrise
You tell me that
i am loved and that
i am forgiven and that
my heart is sought after and that
You have not forgotten me and that
i am Yours forever.

You took
my grief
my heartache
my sorrows
my despair
my mourning
my broken heart
and burned it
until it was all
ashes
and You took the
crown of thorns that
i wore and
placed on my head
a crown of beauty.

You left an imprint on my heart
and wrote in it
with indelible love
a letter of forgiveness
a song,
paragraphs of hope
and sonnets of grace

no more.
no more pretending.
no more pretending that i can.
no more pretending that i can do this on my own.
no more.
no more pretending.
no more pretending that i am.
no more pretending that i am strong.
i can't.
i can't do this on my own.
i am not strong.
i can't fight You anymore.
i let these walls crumble.
i am weak.
no more pretending that i can do this on my own.
no more pretending that i am strong.
no more pretending that i do not need You.
i need You.

i've learned not to fear
the darkness because in it
i see your light
and i've learned to love
my brokenness because
You have promised to
make me whole
and i've learned to boast
about my weakness because
You make me strong.

all i can say is
thank You
thank You
thank You
because who looks at this
mess of a heart, of a soul
and finds beauty in it?
You.
who looks at the awful things i did
and instead of pointing a finger,
instead of casting a stone,
or turning their back
they smile and whisper that it's okay?
You.
who looks at this heart who everyone couldn't love
and tells it that it is the most loved heart in the whole entire universe?
*You.

even if you run away,
even if you hide,
I'm going to chase you.
and I won't stop.
I'm going to pursue you
and I will find you
and you'll see me
in the sky, in the sun,
and in the moon and stars.
and you'll see me
when you buy sunflowers
and when you drink
your morning coffee
and you'll see me in
the sunshine and
you'll see me
in the rainy days, too.
I'll be hiding in the
sunrises and sunsets
and mountains and valleys
and you'll hear my voice
in the radio and in
the songs of birds.
and you'll find me
in the words you write
and in the ones you read
and you will go on walks
and you'll look for me
and you'll find me
at the end of the road
with my arms open wide.

i saw God today.
he was in a coffee shop and a baseball game
he was the light in your eyes,
the curve of your smile,
the salt in your tears.
i heard him
in my broken prayers
and the sound of your laughter.
between your breaths and my own.
i saw him
in the orange of the sunset.
i felt him
in your arms.
alive alive alive.

darling,
don't listen to them.
don't listen to the naysayers,
don't listen to those that say
that you won't make it,
that you're not worth it,
that you're not enough,
because darling,
you will make it.
you are worth it.
you are enough.
shine your light,
tune them out,
and sing your own song.

everybody has a spark inside their hearts,
and many let it die.
many let heartbreak and fear and failure
define who they are.
but you're not everybody.
you don't ignore the spark in your heart,
you don't let the fire die.
instead you let it burn,
you let it dance,
you let it be wild.
you let it be light,
you let it be truth.
you let it be hope,
you let it be love.
because you are a butterfly with brave wings,
you are not afraid of dreaming big,
you are not afraid of shining bright,
you are not afraid to love.
you have this spark inside of you,
you're not afraid to let it burn.
you are full of light and color.
you are a firework.

here we are.
drinking coffee at 9 pm.
i am reading poetry
and you are making lists about lists.
here we are.
trying to fill the distance between us
with something.
i do it with comfortable silence,
but you start talking to me
about how iPads could replace computers one day and about iOS eleven
and i nod my head and smile to myself
because i see you
and what you're trying to do:
trying to shorten the distance
the way you know how
and instead of nodding again
i tell you how my friend is selling her phone
and how i don't know
whether to buy it or not
because the storage space
is the same as my phone's
and while you talk to me about cameras and megapixels and iCloud space
the space between us is smaller.

i will travel the world
and i will not pack light,
with a suitcase filled
with memories and coffee,
with the suns and stars i saw,
the steps i gave and the stolen breaths
i will travel the world,
i will get lost
in the streets that lead to love
leaving bits of me in the places
where my heart fell in love

look up at the sky
and smile at it,
because as endless as the sky
is the hope you’ve been given
and the love inside your heart.
because as beautiful as the sky
are your dreams.
because you shine brighter
than the sun in the sky
and have more worth
than all the stars in heaven.
look up at the sky
and smile at it,
because heaven is your home.

it is like a spring shower,
refreshing and renewing,
making everything bloom.
it is like a river,
bringing life to a dead land.
it is like the stars in the sky,
endless.
it is like a summer breeze,
rushed and unexpected.
it means hope.
a second chance.
freedom.
life.
You call it second nature,
i call it grace.

when it's raining in your heart
i will put my umbrella over it.
when your coffee is bitter,
i will be the sugar.
when your heart is breaking
i'll buy a hundred band-aids.
when you're feeling small,
i'll tell you that you're brave.
when you're feeling tired,
i will let my shoulders be your pillow.
wherever you are,
there i'll be.
whatever you need,
here is me.

i am ruins.
i am dust.
i am rubble and broken windows.
i am nothing.
and You made yourself a home
in these ruins,
in this heart,
and somehow, i don't know,
You make beauty out of these ruins,
You make glory shine out of these
broken windows,
You see that i am not enough,
that i am broken and You make
Your light shine through the cracks
of this heart.

i was made for more
i was made for shining bright
i wasn’t made to drown in my sorrows
i was made to find joy
i wasn’t made for fear
i was made with a brave spirit
i was made to give love
i wasn’t made to hide in shame
i was made to dance in grace
i wasn’t made for here
i was made for eternity
i was made for more.

i want you to know
that you are more beautiful
than all the night stars,
that you're more brave than you know,
that you shine brighter than the summer sun,
that your smile radiates joy,
that your life is a mirror of grace
that your words turn the sky bluer,
that they make flowers bloom,
that this desert you're passing by
will end one day,
that this storm won't last forever,
that soon you'll find yourself
on a mountaintop,
surrounded by wildflowers,
gazing at a rainbow made
just for you.
but mostly,
i want you to know
that i love you.

it was a summer of firsts.
first crush
or something like that.
i'm still not sure if it
qualifies as a crush.
first shooting star
and i didn't make a wish
because i knew better than
to believe that wishes on a star come true.
and yet i marveled like a little girl
thinking that God planned that moment
to tell me that He loved me.
first time singing in front of others
i had practiced all day
but when the moment came
my hands were shaking
and so was my voice.
Bruna held my hand
and the sweetest sound came from my mouth.
i blushed as
everyone smiled.
it was the first time in a long time
that i felt like i belonged
that i felt i was real
that i felt i was me.

lovers write sweet verses
but yours do not compare.
You write ballads with the wind,
and rhymes with the roses.
flowing stanzas with the rivers,
love letters with the stars,
sonnets with the seas.
all You do says ' I love you',
all You do is poetry.

i was blind
but now i see You
and i see your eyes
and in your eyes,
in your eyes there is
no judgment,
no pointing fingers,
no disappointment,
in your eyes there is
forgiveness,
light,
a second chance,
mercy,
grace.
in your eyes there is
only love.

You've never stopped loving me.
not even when i broke Your heart,
not even when i broke my promises,
not even when i left your side,
not even when i said i didn't need You anymore,
not even when i turned my back on You,
not even when i tried to fill the void in my heart with everything but You,
not even when i stopped loving You,
not even then did You stop loving me.

stars don't compare to the
constellations of light
inside you,
and all the gold in the world
isn't worth as much as you are.
and the sun, darling,
the sun can't shine brighter than you.
you are sunlight,
you are beams of light and hope
you are bright and beautiful.

in your heart
there is gold
in your heart
lies a brave spirit
in your heart
lives a sparrow
singing a tune of hope
in your heart
is a spark
that will set the world on fire
in your heart
lives truth and hope
and love and life.
open it.

i will jump into your arms
i will run into your love
and i will listen to your voice
and i will take your hand
and i will believe your promises
and i will run through fields of sunflowers,
i will run through fields of gold,
i will kiss the clouds
and i will chase my dreams
and i will live out love

the voices of the past
make their way into my head
and they whisper to me
all the things that i have done
and remind me of who i once was
they remind me of when
i broke your heart
and i cry
because i don't deserve You
but You embrace me
and tell me that
You don't care about
who i was or what i did
You just care about
my heart
and your voice, your light
drowns out
the darkness of the voices
of the past

i wish i could get inside Your head
and figure out what You were thinking
when
You created the universe.
i wish i could get inside Your head
when
You made me.
what was going through Your head
when
You formed my tiny feet and hands
my face
my heart
my mind?
what was going through Your head
when
i said yes to You?
i wish i could get inside Your head
and figure out what You were thinking
when
Your son died for me.
i probably wouldn't
understand what was going through Your head
because
Your mind is
infinite and complex and everywhere
so i will settle
with thinking that You were thinking
that You loved
me.

He is in a breeze on a summer day,
in the purples and pinks of a glorious sunset,
in the melodies of the chirping birds,
in the rolling waves of the seas.
He is in the blue of the sky,
in a child's laughter,
in the blooming roses,
in your heart.
my soul, be still.
my soul, stop looking for Him,
for He is here.
all creation sings His praises,
all creation shouts hallelujah,
all creation screams glory.

today,
i heard your
voice.
i heard your
song for me.
i heard you
and You said that
You loved me,
that You loved
me yesterday and
that You'll love me
tomorrow
and You said it
in every language
and You whispered it
and You shouted it
from the rooftops
and You didn't stop
singing
until i believed it.

with every sunrise and
with every sunset You tell me
that they were made just for me
You tell me that i am not here by mistake
You tell me that my life matters
You tell me that You gave me a brave spirit
You tell me that You put fire in my bones
and a light in my eyes and a beat in my heart
and with every sunrise
and every sunset You tell me
that i am loved.

show me how to appreciate You.
show me to be in awe of your wonderful creation.
-seas and skies and depths and heights-
but teach me to find You in the everyday.

teach me
to smile when
the sun's rays creep in
through my curtains and with their warmth
kiss my face.

teach me
to listen quietly
to the sparrow that perches on my window,
singing his song
and glorifying You.

teach me
to marvel at
the rain that gently falls
and brings life
to a dead garden.

teach me
to laugh with
giggling children,
innocent and carefree,
and to treasure their thoughts and curiosity.

teach me
to be still
when You move around me
because that's where You hide-
in the small, everyday things

this morning
i looked in the mirror
and for the first time
i didn't see
my mistakes,
i didn't see
my circumstances,
i didn't see
the shame i carried
on my shoulders,
i didn't see the
fear that once chained me
instead i saw
the most beautiful smile,
i saw a brave heart
and a face full of
inexpressible joy,
and i saw
a soul worth pursuing,
a dream worth chasing,
a heart worth loving.

you are more
than anyone could ever be.
you are royalty
dressed in gold jewelry and purple robes.
you are worth
more than all the diamonds in the world.
your smile
can light up the darkest sky.
your laughter makes flowers bloom.
your eyes are brighter
than a summer sun.
you are loved.
you are treasured.
you're important.
you're enough.

when i love
i open my heart
and i let my little soul out
and i give you the key
to open it.
i give you the power
to do with it as you please.
you could love me back
and make my soul grow
and burst into colors
but
you could break it
and crush it
into tiny little pieces
and walk all over them
and turn them into dust.
but sooner or later
those tiny pieces
will find their way
and slowly come back together
and love you all over again.