i am every word i have dared to utter and i am every word i have kept quiet i am my heart and the courage it needs to beat again and again i am every time i have said ‘i love you’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘i am sorry’ and i am every poem i have read and listened to and watched i am the flowers you planted in my heart when you smiled i am alive i am the coffee my mother brews (i no longer brew it myself. i got burned once by the flame and no longer use matches.) which is to say, i am afraid (of fire. of burning. of breaking.) i have forgotten to be brave (have i?) remind me of the courage in fire (my heart.) the light the warmth love. (they are worth the burns.)