i am grateful for more things than I can count,
but that’s not easy.

it’s so hard looking at things
in a positive way
through a teenager’s eyes.

everything at times
looks grey,
but there are those
moments that the colors
surrounding us are
so vibrant that
it’s overwhelming.

but there’s the nights where
your pillow is the
best friend to your
tears as you try to keep quiet.

or times where no one notices
you are even there.

times when you don’t have
the motivation to even do
the things you love the most.

but you’re not a starving kid in
Africa, right?

you have warm showers,
a great education,
and a roof over your head.

Why aren’t you grateful
for what you have? they say.

because we’re stuck inside our minds
and our society proclaims that if
you don’t have the
most friends,
you aren’t popular.


because our society
ensures our clothing
and piercings
are exactly who we are.

our grades are a label
to show exactly
how our minds work.

our parents are “still our
Mom and Dad” so what they
do has to be forgiven.

because our world,
is all we know.

we can be thankful for when
we sneak a new makeup
pallet into the cart without
Mom seeing.

we can be thankful when
our parents let us
replace our boot-cut
2000s jeans for ones that
are only half of the material
due to the amount of holes
but cost twice as much.

but what they don’t know
is some of us are thankful
for things they can not see.

some of us are thankful
for days that our parents
are in a good mood
and we mess up less.

for days where we can get
out of bed without
feeling all of the pain
suddenly rush over us.


some of us are thankful
for days that are just
less grey.

we just want days
of where we are grateful
to actually be alive.