Like my beautiful brain
and big heart.
-I’m made up of love and kindness
She made art
from the parts of her
that were broken.
She finds beauty in chaos.
We are all works in progress.
The first draft of a book.
The blueprints of a house.
The child learning to read.
We are all works in progress.
We choose to finish writing out
a story untold,
building a house out of
bricks and wood
that once started out as ideas
on paper,
and reading chapter books
with ease late into the night.
We are all works in progress.
Slowly but surely coming together.
We are the ones who never give up.
I put honey in
my bitter tea to make it
a little sweeter,
if only I could do
the same with you.
-poetry can be honey to your tea
You are a broken
bone that needs to heal.
Let my words be the cast
you wear to
return you
to your best form.
There are many
types of people who get
together for coffee.
Some who gossip
about friends as they
sip up the foam
from their espresso.
Some who get together
and talk about
how they are accomplishing
their dreams while
their coffee
sits and gets cold.
Which one would you be?
I Am My Own Competition
The person I was last year
is not the person I am this year.
I am always in a competitive game.
A faster,
better,
stronger mentality.
Not competing with anyone
except for the girl I was yesterday.
Love Me Big
I am not a 4 a.m. phone call
when no one else is awake.
I am a 5 p.m. knock at the door
after you sat in rush hour traffic
just to tell me you love me.
Use Your Voice
There are so many beautiful people on
this earth that I won’t ever have the
privilege of meeting,
but know that your voice
holds the power to
impact the masses.
Dreams
Be your dreams;
don’t talk about them.
Don’t see them as out of reach.
Don’t mock them.
Don’t allow others to bring
your dreams down.
Live, and breathe your dreams.
I am no longer the one
falling apart.
I am the one walking around
trying to pick up
everyone else’s pieces.
-I want you to be happy
I didn’t wait around for
you to bring your
portion to the table.
I set the scene tonight
for me and good company
and you were not invited.
When I break you down
to the simplest form,
like an acoustic song,
I find you the most beautiful.
I know that
the opposite ends
of magnets
attract and attach
to one another.
Positive + Negative.
But I can guarantee that
won’t work for you and me.
-positive + positive
I told myself that I deserve the best,
so that is what I set out for.
Never settling for anything less
just to fit into the
cookie cutter mold.
Because of that all my,
“crazy” dreams,
are coming to fruition.
You deserve the best too.
-no one can believe in you more than yourself
Dreams are meant to be chased
not buried in fear.
-get running
I’m still learning
to love myself more
each day.
You are not alone on
I have changed a lot over
the last year and a half.
I have grown,
learned,
and expanded who I am.
If we no longer align,
it is what it is.
This physical life
you lead here on earth
is supposed to be
your time to make
your impact on the world.
Don’t let things like limitations
stop you from leading
your best life here.
I am taxiing down a runway
that has been going on
far too long.
I am looking for a sign
to take off,
but I am starting to think
I should stop worrying
about a sign
and just fly.
Beauty Comes In All Forms
Learn to be your own
beautiful self while also
recognizing that there are many
other people who carry
beauty too.
There is no need
for competition.
Here you are, 23
with your dream career,
dream partner in life,
dream mindset.
You showed
your 16-year-old self,
just how wrong
she was.
-I showed you
If you call to the Universe
and tell it
you are ugly,
you are tired,
you are sick,
you are broken,
you are poor,
you are lazy,
you are bad.
The Universe will echo
what it hears.
If you call to the Universe
and tell it,
you are beautiful,
you are woke,
you are healthy,
you are strong,
you are wealthy,
you are good.
The Universe will echo
what it hears.
Don’t you see,
the Universe is giving you
what you emit.
Be more cautious of your words.
What happened to that
five-year-old dreamer
that lived inside of you?
The doctor,
the dentist,
the lawyer,
the singer.
Who made you forget
about those dreams?
Who made you feel like
you couldn’t be those things?
He says he likes the dimples
on your face,
but does he love the ones
on your thighs
just as much?
-you are cute in every way
Sizes
I would rather be
my size ten
with a mind that loves
my body,
instead of my size four
that beat up my body.
One day we will
look back on the days
that we could barely afford
99 cent tacos,
or more than a couple
gallons of gas.
The days we sat on
folding chairs in our
living room watching
a TV with four channels.
One da
y we will tuck our kids
in bed in rooms much bigger
than ours ever were.
And thank God every day
because we knew we could get
here.
If I asked you
all the things
that you love about
yourself,
how long would
our conversation be?
You wanted a succulent
that could be left
on the shelf for weeks
without needing any effort.
But I am a rose in a garden
that needs maintaining,
and tending to my needs
was too much work for you.
I used to be composed of
“maybe”
and “I’m sorry,”
out of fear of commitment
or being an inconvenience.
But now, I will tell you
straight as it is,
and only apologize
if I truly did
something wrong.
I know you say
that I will be nothing
without you,
but I am already
slipping into
a cloak of invisibility
with you.
-it’s time to break free
No emotion is permanent.
You don't always have
to be happy
to be okay.
Sometimes being sad
is just what
your mind needs
in the moment.
-it’s alright to cry
Flowers grow back
even after the harshest winters,
you will too.
It’s funny how people love
the mountains,
the flowers,
and trees.
Things that come
in all different sizes.
But for some reason,
we see beauty in people
who are shorter than the trees,
and skinner than the mountains.
When really everyone
who is tall,
short,
round,
square,
are all just a beautiful part of
nature we have yet to appreciate.
Be above the hate you see.
The hate you feel.
The hate you give.
Be above the hate
that is standing tall.
Today, do you for.
Don’t wear what
you think others will like.
Don’t talk about
what you think others
want to hear.
Do for you today.
Socialize In Real Life
Focus more time on building
the relationships you have
in your real life
and put the social media
relationships on the
back burner.
Don’t let your online life control
how you live your life
outside of a screen.
You are missing so much.
It’s the middle of fall.
The temperature has dipped
below a bone-chilling 40 degrees.
I have on my big gray sweater that
I bought back in the 12 grade.
The one I wore as a safety
blanket for when my anxiety
would creep in.
I can still run my thumbs
over the cuffs of the sleeves,
to the places I used to chew at
out of eagerness.
It’s small moments like these
that remind me of
how far I have come.
How I now just wear this sweater
to keep warm and not because
I saw it as my escape.
I know we all
hate the days
when the sun disappears
in the early hours of the evening.
Just remember, like us,
everything needs a break
once and awhile.
Does he text you,
“good morning (insert nickname),”
every morning?
Does he praise you for
your victories
and hold your hand through
your sorrows?
Are your success’
as important as his?
Does he make you feel safe?
Don’t allow yourself to think
that you only deserve half of
those things,
or one of them.
You deserve them all.
Nothing should be forced.
He should love you naturally.
Forget trying to impress
the rest of the world,
the first person you need to
impress is yourself.
-do you know how amazing you are?
You Are Magnificent
Take yourself to breakfast,
treat yourself
to freshly picked flowers.
Go on a date with yourself
and learn about just how
magnificent you are.
Women carry
the most beauty in
their thoughts.
Where is the song
about her gorgeous
mind and not how
her humps look?
Anxiety is the panic
you feel when
someone doesn’t answer
your phone call after
five tries.
Are they okay?
Did they lose their phone?
Are they mad at me?
Did someone take them?
Are they sick?
Anxiety is never rationalizing
that they could have fallen asleep
or walked away from their phone.
Anxiety is worse case scenario.
A flower missing a few petals
is still just as beautiful
as the flower with an
abundance of petals
but is pulled out at the roots.
-beauty comes in every form
If you were a flower in a garden,
which one would you be?
I would be a sunflower
because they stand tall,
need the sun’s rays,
and room to breathe.
Maybe you are waiting for Saturday,
or summer time,
or New Year's Eve
to start living out your dream.
But I started in the middle of debt
and anxiety and I was victorious.
-no time is ever perfect
It isn’t about waiting for
life to get better.
It is about believing that
life is the best it is right now.
That is when you see
the transformation
in your life.
I don’t want you to think
that I am perfect,
because I am not.
I cry,
scream,
and fear
just like you.
-I’m human
Run with me
through fields filled
with prosperity
and happiness.
I promise you will
not miss the
barren desert
you once called home.
I know that last thing
I would have wanted to hear
was, “things will get better.”
But they do.
They get better,
you get stronger,
and you learn what life
was truly trying to offer you
was the experience you needed
to conquer any demons
who may cross your path again.
I hope my future daughter
doesn’t h
ave to resort to
social media to find her worth,
and vent about her problems.
I want her to know
she always has me to come to.
Helping others is
nice of you,
but I noticed
the bags under your eyes
and the twitching
from over-indulging in caffeine.
You need to be kind
to yourself too.
The imagination of a child
stems far beyond
that of an adult.
That is because
they haven’t learned yet
that there’d be
outside opinions tainting
their dreams.
So, be the child in you,
and make your imagination
a place in your reality.
Flood this world
with so much love
that the hate can
barely stay breathing.
I may be a quiet person
but it is because I only
speak words that are
true to me,
and not words
I feel forced into saying
to fit into the conversation.
I put the girl I was to rest
3 years ago today.
I don't mourn her loss
because she was never
alive anyway.
–born again