Forced to grow
Life - it has forced me to grow
Not just up and out
With more wrinkles and creases
But in understanding too
Every hurt, every harsh word
Every ill-use or cold dismissal
Every bruise on my heart
Or on my weary body
The depth of my pain
Has unearthed the depth of my kindness
The spikes of life have taught me patience
The chaos - acceptance
The knowledge of that pain
And it's devastating impact
Mean those angry words are rarely spoken
And kinder ones are found instead
The crushing of my feelings
Of my character, of my whimsy -
Means I now tread more lightly around yours
Staying my own destructive streak
All the unsafe places
I have inhabited
Make me long to be a safe place
For you to rest your aching heart
The loneliness of being misunderstood
I know all too well
And it makes me listen with care
To the subtext of your words
Pain is a symptom of life
I wouldn't rewrite my story
Even if I could
But I don't want to be the villain in yours
I'll always be a work-in-progress
Life is too short to achieve perfection
But life has taught me
Never to stop growing and striving to be better