What I Would Tell My Younger Self

You will not always feel like this.

There will be mornings when the ache

in your chest dissipates,

when the world does not feel

like it’s caving in on you.

You will outgrow the things

that once hurt you,

the people who did not know

how to love you right.

You will find joy

in places you haven’t yet been,

in the people

you do not yet know.

You will wake up one day,

and it will not feel

like a struggle.

And that day, my love,

will be worth every night

you thought the dark would never end.