you will meet a boy and he won’t know how to love you
but he will want to touch you until you smell like his hands.
you are not required to let him.
you are not less of a person if you do.

some nights you will stay up drinking until the sun
greets you like butter on your toast,
and it will hurt in the most exquisite way you have ever known.
there is some pain that we are better for having felt.

some nights shame will come to you like a dog you kicked
in fear the night before,
bruised and aching, but letting yourself be something
you never thought you could be
is not something you need ever apologize for.

the friends you make without trying are the only ones
you’ll ever need.
the friends whose bed you can sleep in without fear
are the best ones you’ll ever find.

being afraid is the worst thing you’ll ever do to yourself.
fear is a neighbor who bring you sugar
without you even having to ask,
but I promise you that leaving your front door open
will let so many better things in.

and when you feel small, remind yourself
that at the very least
you are a productive member of the water cycle.
you drink, and you cry.