To the Me just beginning,
If time folded now
and I could slip this note into your hand
listen close, before the weight settles in
Some shadows touch too soon.
They speak wrongness before words arrive.
Your pull away was honest.
Nothing in you is broken for refusing.
The shame is not yours to keep.
You stand too steady,
holding what should hold you.
A child is not made for storms.
It is right to crave safety instead.
You need arms that shelter.
You deserve solid ground,
not eggshells that demand tiptoes.
The thunder is not sparked by you.
Warmth belongs in a home,
not fear that shrinks you.
Two houses of chaos should have been one sanctuary of peace.
You search for one safe harbor.
The running is not weakness,
it is a soul seeking refuge.
When the first hand offers love,
do not trade your light for their fractures.
Those pieces are not yours to mend.
Do not lose your shine for insecurities you didn't earn.
Haze slips on as armor.
It guards but steals the raw places
where growth begins.
Feel everything.
Numbness blinds the colors.
Affection offered as currency
buys no real loyalty.
You are not a tool for fleeting pleasure.
Your worth flies alone.
Trust the fire in your chest.
Do not avoid the stumble.
Not trying is the only loss.
Reach anyway,
the becoming waits in the step.
Hearts crack open.
Love sometimes cuts deep.
The hurt makes space for what is real.
Do not hide from the kind that stays.
Soft escapes offer silence,
blankets that dull the world
until beauty slips away.
They lie, giving false relief.
True security,
lives in feeling.
When failures press heavy,
insisting it is over, too late,
do not sink.
This is not the end.
The page turns.
Light comes,
but only if you keep walking.
You are not your darkest days.
You are the one who speaks back
and finds dawn waiting.
Love yourself.
Love,
Yourself