To The Broken

To the broken,
Seeking life.
To the ones trying to change,
Trying to see the light of day once again.
To the ones with stains,
Stains on their souls
From the deepest sadness
Any of us has ever known.

To those who don’t understand,
What it is like to be lost.
Lost in the light,
But all you can see is darkness.
To those who say,
“Just be happy.”

Just understand.
Life isn’t perfect.
We are not perfect
Words hurt, and linger.
We move on,
We remain.
Or we return again.

To those who have ever felt death,
And those who have felt lonely
Absorbed in solitude.
To those who find strength,
Strength within themselves,
And trust and open up,
Share their thoughts,
Their scars and wounds.
To those who hope for care.

For those who realize
This world is dark.
For those who understand
The hearts of man can only be theirs.
And your thoughts 
May go unfazed,
When they are exposed
Now vulnerable with emotion,
Seen as weak
To those who strike us down.
“Just be happy.”
They complain.

No.
No. The beauty of happiness
Cannot be forged in the night.
The pains of life,
Cannot simply be put on the shelf,
And forgotten.
“Just be happy.”
Isn’t an option.
But maybe one day it could be.
Maybe, one day.

But today those who still live,
Those who have survived,
And continue to rise each day
And say,
“I can. I will go on.
I have the ability to be me.
I have the ability to love myself.
And I have the ability to feel the light,
Once again.”

To those who are strong.
To those who push forward.
To those who can smile
Regardless of who comes
And who goes.

To The Broken.
You are strong.