Come, Stay Awhile

The nightmare

But you still linger heavy in my mind

Your smile

Your laugh

Your voice

Your hands

Your touch still leaves burn marks on my soul

The memory of you leaves me in despair

Yet

I still find myself going back to the memory of you

As a solace

As a place I can crawl back into softly

To feel happy again

Although there was nothing soft about you

I feel my future self caress my face and wipe my tears

Telling me

This too shall pass

Reassuring me

I won’t feel this way for you forever

And thanking me

For making the decisions I had to

To get far, far away from you

I wish to be my future self right now

She seems so strong

So wise

Though I know I must suffer to become her

I must suffer in the misery of you a little longer

In the memory of what used to be

In the memory of what never really was

Until this chapter ends

I sit in the embrace of my future self

As she catches my tears

As she thanks me for this heartbreak

As she thanks me for our freedom

-Sophia H

Why, are you interested?

How? Many ways.. there is a poem by Niamh that comes to my mind that may help you or others -

“We can’t heal without hurting first.

An open wound cannot become a scar

a painless mark etched into our canvas

without itching and burning.

We can’t mend the halves of our hearts

into a whole

without bleeding out

inside of our chests first.

You must let the hurt

soak your ribcage

from bone white to ruby red

otherwise, the pain

will soak through the stitches

and you will bleed all over

the next person who asks to hold you.

I take out my sewing kit

and sit on the edge of my bed.

If I don’t sew my cuts together,

I will bleed all over other people.”

- It hurts to heal

Poetry by Niamh