Adapted

“let me tell you something:

no one is going to look at you,

broken and shattered

and think, damn, you are beautiful.

no one is going to come pick up your

broken pieces off the floor and

assemble them into a beautiful whole.

hell,

you won’t even look at yourself and

be like i made broken look beautiful.

you know why?

because all those writers lied to you.

yes,

all those with their poems of scraped

knuckles and blood dripping down chins,

songs and loves that

ripped through you like hurricanes.

liars.

so you and i,

we are going to make a plan.

when your brain tells you to smash that

mirror because of them,

you are not going to romanticize that

lover who doesn’t understand you

but still writes about you.

here is what you are going to

romanticize instead:

you are going to romanticize the first

day of spring,

its gentle breeze upon your skin,

lifting you up until you are light as a

feather.

you are going to romanticize the warm tea

shared in silence with someone who

cares,

no hurricanes,

but mercy that builds you up from

within,

that helps you make it through the worst

days.

you are going to romanticize gentle

hands of a friend

in yours,

telling you that it is going to be okay.

because it is.

and don’t trust poets,

we’re no good,

we love pretending that our sharp

edges turned into a beautiful disaster,

but in reality

there ain’t nothing beautiful about

shaky hands holding old habits

and empty eyes staring at the cracks in the walls.

you know what is beautiful, instead?

the days when you can look at yourself

in the mirror and smile despite scars and all.

And your heart soften like silk.

Books offer comfort,

families flocking together like

overgrown birds keep you safe and

warm, friends give you strength when you can find none,

loved ones make you laugh through

tears.

baby,

from now on

you are going to romanticize healing;

honey dripping down your fingertips,

August nights that calm your soul,

the day you find your purpose,

long walks and saying 

ALHAMDULLILAH 

so loud

that no one can silence you now.

bad news:

no one is coming to save you.

good news:

Allah already gave you the strength.

you can save yourself.”

—(adapted)