Don’t be afraid
to dissolve
old layers
of yourself.
Caterpillars
completely break down
inside their coccoons
before they become
butterflies.
Tag: courage
Let Yourself Be Forgotten
Sometimes, it is best
to let yourself be forgotten.
Particularly,
when you feel you must change yourself
or betray yourself
to be remembered.
Part of the Family
I finally see the mean inner voices for what they are:
part of the family.
I’m never going to eradicate them.
Fear,
self-doubt,
self-criticism,
and depression
will always be in the car
in the road trip of my life–
a month from now,
a year from now,
ten years from now.
And that’s okay.
They can be here–
as long as they know their place.
They sit in the back.
They sit shotgun.
They are not the driver.
I repeat:
They are not the driver.
*Credit where credit is due: this poem is a paraphrase of a part of Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert.*
Fires
I vow
to spend my life
walking through fires
instead of
cowering from them.
I vow
to spread light
even when it means
I must
endure heat.
(written 2017 or 2018)
*Inspired by the Viktor Frankl quote, “what is to give light must endure burning.”
The Life of a Socially Anxious Writer
- Write something.
- Put it out into the world.
- Die of embarrassment.
- Slowly realize that, in spite of intense feelings of shame (what Brené Brown aptly calls a “vulnerability hangover”), you’re not, like, *actually* dead. At least not in the technical, literal sense. And what a shocking revelation!!!!! You really thought you were!!!! In fact, you were quite convinced!!!!! Start getting the itch to write and share your writing again (where did THAT come from???). Forget how painful and awful it was the last time. Start believing and hoping that MAYBE, despite the disagreement of ALLLLLLLLLL your inner demons, you just might have something important to say. Bravely or stupidly (<— you’re never sure which) decide to soldier on.
5. Write something again.
To A Female Ex-Coworker
You said I’d be sexy
if I wore my hair down
if I plucked my eyebrows
if I unbuttoned the top few buttons of my shirt.
I laugh at how much you’re missing,
at how completely you misunderstand me.
It is my mind, my heart,
my soul, my very essence that makes me sexy–
not any of those things.
(written spring 2019)
Come Alive Anyway
You may fear
that if you come alive
people won’t like
who you truly are.
I’m going to spoil the ending:
some people WON’T like
who you truly are.
Come alive anyway.
The 8th Deadly Sin
Cowardice
Should be the 8th deadly sin
Because behind every evil man
are 10,000 cowards
too afraid
to stand up to him.
(written Jan. 2019)
