I want a kind person to see me struggling
Not by me showing them
But by simply observing
And care
And ask if they can help
Sometimes they can
And sometimes they can't
But that itself
Is enough for my heart

How dare I let myself feel sad?

Have you every heard the someone say
"Someone always has it worse"?
They're trying to help you, but it always ends up making me feel terrible
If someone else has it so bad
My problems just seem silly
So how dare I feel sad?

If I'm mad that my dad is crazy
Someone's dad is dead

If school is stressful and I'm freaking out
Some don't get to go because they are working to be able to buy clothes

If I am crying because I can't stop picking my thumb and it hurts
Some people lost their hand in traumatic ways

If I got in to a fight with my mom
Some people would do anything just to see there's again

Someone always has it worse
And that thought is anything but comforting
Now I feel bad for feeling sad

you'll understand when
you're a parent — is a bad
way of parenting

twinkle, twinkle, little star
What a little liar you are.
told me that my wish would come true
if I made a wish on you
but twinkle, twinkle, little star
I'm still crying from afar

You are the happy friend.
You seek compliments but you don’t believe them.
You can’t be the messed up friend because they have it worse.
You can’t compare because they won’t see it as bad as it is.
You are the happy friend.
You are the funny friend.
You are the safe friend.
You let them vent, you let them share.
You take the burden so they don’t have to. You carry their weight-
adding to yours.
You don’t let them see.
They check in with you but you know you can’t say anything.
You can’t trust them with your feelings. They don’t need more on their plate.
They can’t handle it, but you can.
You can’t be delicate.
You can’t be hurt.
You are unbothered.
Because you are the happy friend.

proof that if people take the time to get to know you they will eventually begin to notice the little things like:

I tie small pieces of my hair in knots
whenever I'm thinking hard about something
because it makes my dad laugh
and tell me I'm going to make myself bald

whenever I see someone crying
whether I like them or not
I always stop and listen and try to make it better
because I would want somebody to do that for me

I have a photo album full of pictures
of my favorite people
so when I'm sad I can flip through it
and their smiling faces remind me I have people I love
and that I would do anything for them

I wear a safety pin on the hem of my shirts
as a promise
to my parents and my siblings and to me
that I will never hurt myself again

I make bracelets for all my friends
an insignificant thing
but I do it because
it brings me joy to see them wear them every day

when I was younger I would stare out my window
and watch the lightning at night
and count the seconds before the thunder boomed
until I fell asleep
and sometimes I still do