“I told myself – You’ve got this, Even though I don’t have it at all.”

Late at night I’m awake thinking. I’m afraid of what I’d do to be able to taste you again.

I’d rather be shot by a bullet than to be cut by your words. I’ll die cold on the pavement before I lie in the casket of your assurances.

I will be more than I was yesterday, even if that means I can’t take you with me.

I got what I wanted then I threw it away why do I mess up the only things that want to stay.

A smile made of promises and a heart made of broken chains. She was a beautiful contradiction.

I found peace in my loneliness. I found solace in the quiet. I found love in my reflection.

And as you left my heart cried out then suddenly I was thankful that the cries of the heart can only be felt and not heard.

I want you to love me for me so that all my flaws stitch together and make me whole.

And when she stopped letting him steal her light she shined brighter than every star in the night sky.

Standing alone on the edge wondering if anyone could ache as much as I do.

Words are so powerful treat them as weapons. You say you love someone expect a war.

Like broken clocks we lost our time you moved on but left me behind.

I am not lost I am simply wandering finding my own path creating my own future.

The real damage isn’t something you can touch, its not something you can see. The real damage is in the way I walk its in the way I speak.

One day the waves will crash around me and take my soul to sea. For on that day death will surround me watching happily.

I opened up to you like a butterfly in the spring but you rained on me and broke my wings.

Having grown up in a segregated environment in the south I know what it’s like to be stepped on, I know what it’s like also to see some black hero do well in the face of adversity.

In difficult times carry something beautiful in your heart.

The hardest part of living without social media was remembering that my little life was enough, so I could just stay there and live it without asking for anyone else’s permission or validation. I realized that for me, posting is like asking the world, ‘Do you ‘like’ me?’

I don’t know if I’ve had my share of drama, but I’ve definitely had my share of hard times.

I fought, I fought harder, but one cell at a time, panic crept into my body, taking me over.

Pain stole my heart and made it home. And I can’t do anything but welcome it.

Light at the end of the tunnel? We don’t even have a tunnel; we don’t even know where the tunnel is.

Don’t get hung up on the hard times, the challenges. Tell your story by highlighting the victories. Because it’s your victories that will inspire, motivate, encourage other people to live their stories in grander ways.