A word so sweet and simple
And yet
So very bold
Two syllables of
Complete and utter terror

Courage is tilting your chin up
In the face of the yelling man
Who calls you worthless
And telling him
Quite calmly
You are not.

Courage is opening
Like a flower to the sun
To show all your flaws
Your secrets and doubts
To someone,
Anyone,
Despite the fear
That they will pluck you from your grass
And play a deadly game
Of he loves me
Loves me not

Courage is standing
Amongst a group
Of your very best friends
And telling each
And every one
That they are wrong

Courage is looking
At yourself in the mirror
Not liking what you see
But deciding you look good
Anyway

Courage is waking
Putting on shoes
Dressing however you like
And going to school
Even when you feel as though
The building were a prison
And your life a never ending joke
With no punchline

Courage is living
For your friends
For your family
And for the most important
Most amazing
Most fascinating person
On the planet:
Yourself.

I do not love your scars

Given the chance I would trace the marks with fingers
trembling
hold your bruises with soft caresses
brush my lips across them with childish hope
kiss it better

I do not love your scars

They tell tales of suffering
of self-hate and loathing
and if my fingers could fit through my ribs
I would drag out my heart and ask you to taste it
for my love flows more abundant than blood
and the last of my life dripping from between your fingers
reminds me of a fairy tale ending

I do not love your scars

Rash imperfection on otherwise pale skin
bright red marks and bruises purple as eggplant
in defiance of the life you live
harsh self-taught words that cut deeper
than you broken glass ever could.

I do not love your scars

Words muttered and kept
under breath and filling lungs and spilling from parted lips
let me be your nebulizer
to pump numb-tasting words into your body
until you can taste nothing but my lips on yours
feel nothing but my breath on your collarbone
my teeth on your throat

I do not love your scars

They prove your pain
that despite my love and thoughts of our future
still you hate the very being
that gets me out of bed in the morning.
I am not a love poet
but when I write of you
it is the only word
that comes to mind

I do not love your scars

I can not fathom the size of our galaxy
but its vastness is the only thing able to contain
my affections
for what else changes and expands
what else contains suns and solar systems
and great spaces of nothing at all?

What else steals breath as Love does?

I do not love your scars

But I love your resolute acceptance
the way you know where each one is
a flaw upon perfection
like small blips on a map
stars in the universe

I do not love your scars

You see them as wreckage,
not strongholds
Blackholes
instead of suns
Proof of weakness
instead of iron ***** resilience

I do not love your scars
I do not love their stories
I love the person strong enough
to bear them

wrap me in your arms, my love
unravel my heart