*Thank you Kat Cody for your kind words recently*

To my ever-unassuming inner child whimpering
in the most fortified chambers of my heart
let me finally say 
that I am so, so sorry
for taking so long to find you.
To meet you.

You are strong.

Life has made for a very rough ride thus far.
You’ve been thrown against walls
and dropped from great heights,
allowed to spectacularly shatter so many times
yet you keep finding ways to piece it all back together
because there is no giving up in you.

You are brave

for learning how to cry louder
even when everyone around just seems annoyed,
like they can’t wait for us to shut up.
We’ve rarely been given reasons to believe
that the heroes can claim victory in the end,
yet you still suit up every time the fight is upon us.

You are good.

I know you wish that we could be
anybody else but who we currently are.
I know because it’s a wish I make daily.
To care is to walk a world full of devils
all trying to cut you down to size.
Whatever intimidates them is worth holding onto.

And now we are finally together.

I always knew of a damage deep within.
I’m just finally recognizing how impactful it is;
how much you have suffered.
From here on out, it is you who are number one,
not friends who allow falling or never-learning family
or even the God that put us here in the first place.

And we will finally thrive.

We’ll identify triggers and how to respond.
We’ll find ways to get out of the rain.
It may take some time to learn how to fight
but if it’s a problem for you, it is for me, too.
War I will boldly walk into
all in the name of growing beyond limitations.

To matter for once.
To crescendo.
To unlearn helplessness.