I know a thousand things louder than a soldier's gun; I know the heartbeat of his mother.

You keep worrying you’re taking up too much space. I wish you’d let yourself be the milky way.

I’d cut my soul into a million different pieces just to form a constellation to light your way home. I’d write love poems to the parts of yourself you can’t stand. I’d stand in the shadows of your heart and tell you I’m not afraid of your dark.

Everyone’s chest is a living room wall with awkwardly placed photographs hiding fist-shaped holes.

Your ignorance keeps dismembering every piece of patience I have left.

I write because it is while I'm writing that I feel most connected to why we're here. I write because silence is a heavy weight to carry. I write to remember. I write to heal. I write to let the air in. I write as a practice of listening.

Sometimes the most healing thing to do is remind ourselves over and over and over, other people feel this too.