My heart needs a lock;
Give my mind the key.

© Melissa Carlson 2015

For those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

© Melissa Carlson 2015

stop comparing yourself to other people. please? you are just fine, you're beautiful and i accept you. you've got to stop calling each other names and labeling each other based on the things that have been said to you. let the past lie. you're perforating your dreams. they'll die and you'll have nothing left to go after. i don't care how long it takes to assure you that your worth isn't ever going to be defined by what's been said to you. you animate the wildest sides of me. you should believe in you because i believe in you and you should too. stay you, but be happy and trust in the One who loves you every single day. even though you are in the condition that you are in. you'll be perfectly okay.

© Melissa Carlson 2015

the spiral takes place
in your heart
in your soul
and on your face

it'll knock you down
spit you out
twist your mind
and linger about

the spiral, what pain
the journey, the spaces
all these empty places
they leave you insane

unexpected interests
(un)desired love
unrelenting emotions
used to feeling numb

the affect is collateral
the hurting are told
handing out pieces
not meant to be sold

the spiral takes place
in your soul
and on the faces of the people
who see the pain you hold.

© Melissa Carlson 2015

please don't take to heart what that bully said to you when you were 14, when you were just learning to survive and he told you to die. and it's okay to cry. bend you might, but break not quite. you'll be alright.

tomorrow, if not tonight.

© Melissa Carlson 2015

today
i feel weak and small
today
small problems become big
my brain is so full
i can hardly speak
today*
i’m batteling my mind
fighting the pain
trying to survive
with teary eyes
and an aching heart

*(s.m)