My first fresh start happened when I was sixteen. Hot tears splattered my jeans like the rain falling from the dark sky I walked through a door to a life that felt like a mold I had to fill Those four walls that made up my room felt nothing like home to me I cried and longed for my life back yet I had never felt so alive When I spiked my hair that early morning before my first day of school I pretended to be grateful, confident and personable In my heart all I wanted to do was crawl back in my blankets and cry When the first person on my bus ride said hello to me I jumped and mumbled politely back and put in my headphones I didn't remove those headphones until a boy tapped on my shoulder When I looked up at him I saw just another boy oh how wrong I was Slowly that mold expanded and I filled into a life that I could call mine My fresh start was compiled of pain being healed by hope Hope being dashed by pain and seeing the cycle forming in front of me I grew up so much during my fresh start and I built myself from ashes Then when I ventured out on my own I set fire to my foundations Laughing and lighting my cigarette off the flames Falling past my lowest low and thumping onto rock bottom Finally when I had nothing left to burn & only ashes falling around me I found my way back to my fresh start back to myself To that door that held so much love and encouragement beyond it Those four walls that once felt so empty now beckoning me home I cried tears of joy to finally feel alive again From the outside I look perfectly happy once more and I am Yet I still write by nothing but the dim glow of my Christmas lights The ones that I begged my dad to let me have after the holidays When I see that boy who once tapped on my shoulder I smile Then I remember everything we ever were, every single memory All of the happiness, heartbreak, hope and confusion he gave to me Most of all I remember when I thought everything had been taken When all hope left my eyes, my heart hung from the strings of my ribs Yet the most painful part of being ***** was being blamed by him Still I smile at him and know we will be friends once more This fresh start is looking promising to say the least It's a chance to rediscover the parts of myself I let die long ago To release my words onto the pages that soak them up like a sponge I have a voice again and I refuse to be shushed by judgement So when I walk through the door of my fresh start at 3 in the morning I smile and breathe deep because the air doesn't just smell better here It's lighter with the hope that refuses to let pain direct it's cycle It's crisp with the confidence I no longer have to fake Bubbly with my personality that's bigger than any storm So here I am. Writing by my pale dim lights of my fresh start Life has never looked so beautiful