please breathe
please breathe some more
and more
and more
you will be okay
I will be okay
perfection is not mandatory
not possible

you are enough

ringing validations out to yourself in the moonlight of the night is enough
for now
and maybe for always
please breathe
you can sleep
you will never finish
but you are always complete
so sleep

We couldn't get the music right
Or a place to call our own
But in each other's bodies we made homes
And from our hearts we drew our warmth

We held each other still and stared at the stars and I could feel it coming
Bubbling up through the warmth in my chest
I could feel it spreading across my tongue
Into the warm air between our lips

"I love you"

"I love you too"

Then I pulled you as close to me as possible and kissed you until the world was spinning
And maybe it was something in the air
Or maybe it was the overwhelming feelings that you gave me
But either way you held me close and brought me back to our still oasis under the stars

I do no want to be angry
Anger is not an emotion you have truly felt
until you know how much it hurts
and how it unhinges your mind,
introducing scary new thoughts
into your consciousness

It keeps you up at night,
a feeling so intense that it interrupts
and erases all others,
leaving you
empty

It is a fuel,
but it burns *****
leaving debris and remnants
in the motor of your mouth

It pollutes every aspect of compassion
flowing through your veins

It will never run it's course and die out,
it sows the soil of your soul
leaving seeds of despair
reaping crops of destruction

Anger is not to be taken lightly because
it is the chemical manifestation
of all that is wrong in the world
finally
getting
to
your
head.

Don't date boys who say '*****'.
Don't think that they will respect you because you are dating.
Don't trust them to just hold you and keep you safe because they are the ones who took your safety away.
Don't listen when they say you are overreacting when the voices in your head and of the crowd around you try to erase everything you feel with his shiny white teeth and pristine record.
Don't trust boys who say '*****' any more than you would trust boys who call you a ***** to your face.
Please, I know it's hard,
Don't blame yourself for the actions of the boys who say '*****'

What an honor to be touched with such soft gates
The secret keepers to your soul
Introduced to my own and secrets they are no longer
For with each shared breath the whispers of my stories flush out
Leaving more space for you settle into
Relying more on touch and sense than see
Leaving sight behind and letting go of fears

She was a poison oak
Growing in my side
Twisting out from my spine and nearly toppling my balance
Her roots taking nutrients from organs
Making sustenance from draining me
After years of clawing at her trunk so close to me with ****** fingernails
My hands are the axes that I have so desperately needed
And with one swift chop she is released from me
And that is it
With years of build up to this point all it took was a single axe to break the bond
And it is broken
But her roots lay deep within my spine
Aching
Gnawing
Pushing
And I must recognize that it will take time before the she is completely out of my system
Before all of the splinters that she has left behind are pushed through my skin and into daylight