mynuggetheart - Tumblr blog

[mynuggetheart]

I have learned to thrive in the silence of my loneliness. It doesn’t feel strange anymore. It’s a closed off space almost inaccessible if not visited without intent. How I ended up here is as good a mystery to me as to everyone else. I feel comfortable in the solace of being alone. Sometimes, I wonder if I should consider allowing a few disruptions bring life to my placid existence. I just don’t know if it will be worth it. I wish I was lying when I say that I see no point in creating space for myself in other people’s lives. When I eventually die (I don’t know when, I just know we all end up there), I don’t want to inconvenience more people than necessary. Yes, I think about this often. Grief changes people. If I can prevent other people from grieving me when I’m gone, I would. I don’t want to wish a lifetime of sadness on someone else. So maybe grief should stop with me. Grief should end with me.

[mynuggetheart]

A Tale of a Troubled Heart

She splintered her heart 10 years ago

With admirable words

And convincing stares

His hand a veiny mass of promises

Written in lyrics of obscure songs

That permanently inked her naive soul

It was indescribable

Her innocent eyes always longing to land on his handsome face

Handsome still debatable in her friends' dictionaries

She didn't care

It was probably the shortest rebel period a person could go through

It ended the way it started

Abrupt

Like a fever dream never meant to last

A passing mirage in her forlorn desert

There were a lot of what ifs she weaved into weaponry

Where there was once a bed of hope, she planted cynicism in the guise of being careful

She grew a forest of thorns, and embodied prickly

But even then, she was not safe from heartbreak

A couple of years after, she went into another battle

This time permanently damaging a part of her being

On that day she didn't just lose her father

It cut her deep inside she didn't know if she could ever be whole again

Grief taught her that losing someone you love doesn't just hurt

It wounds you everlasting, and scars you eternal

With the scabs barely working to help you heal

So she buried herself into a landmine

Trying to keep everyone away by being a threat

Some people choose to be firework

Openly showing beauty and then hurting those who dare to come close

She just wanted to hide and be no one to anyone

But then, even the most hidden gems get exposed

Not always in the best way

Her bruised heart was dragged onto a stage it never wanted to perform on

Always a spotlight shining no matter where it tried to hide

And it tried so hard to get lost in the sea of people

But his grasp was steel, his smile a fakery

His intentions still a lingering mystery

How could you learn to trust again when even the ones you care for the most end up as pretenders?

And even when she resorted to silence, there was no running away

She was vulnerable with a target on her back

One he strategically placed in an open secret

And all she had were words to try to rebuild her fortress

You would think, that when someone hurts you they would at least know what they did

It isn't always the case

He would never apologize for something he wasn't even aware of

And so the thorny forest with a landmine surrounded by a fortress emerged

There isn't a pretty princess inside to save

She refuses to be another damsel in distress in any random knight's conquests

If anything, she could be the wicked witch whose only dream is to be alone

And for years she remained silent in solitude

There is nothing ideal about this loneliness

But it is necessary to keep this heart from breaking permanently

She still wears crutches to help it function normally

Sometimes she allows herself to think of what could possibly be

Of a time when someone would be brave enough to get cut by the thorns, dismembered by the landmines, and blocked by this fortress

She had hidden her heart so well it doesn't know how to feel anymore

And by the time it catches up, her brain's already deflected anything that could be a possibility

That's her, she isn't easy

A difficult maze of dreary history and uncertain future

But amidst it all, she still wonders if someday she could learn to feel free to trust again

And let this guarded heart out to receive the love it probably deserves

She doesn't want to know yet

If she were to decide she would never know

But life's a free spirit you could never control

And in every wayward breeze are dandelion seeds small enough to settle even in the most arid places

Like hope that spreads without warning and blooms beautifully into certainty

He could be somewhere in the air gliding to find a way in

And she could be a field of possibilities waiting to happen

All they need is time

All they have is time.

[mynuggetheart]

When I was in third grade, Science was my favorite subject. I would ace every exam sometimes getting more than 100% because I would spot mistakes in my tests and write the correct answer instead of choosing from the options. I was so sure I would get the Best in Science award after that school year. But no, my teacher decided the first honor student deserved to get all the major academic awards. That was when I decided I would never love anything so much that I'd give more than a hundred percent of myself ever again.

I guess that's how I ended up alone and lonely. So yeah, thanks to my third grade Science teacher I grew up cynical of the world. Someone tell my mom please.

[mynuggetheart]

Here's to the night sky

An endless stretch of solace constantly embracing her heart

And in the midst of its undisrupted peace and quiet

His presence a disturbance blowing in the unfamiliar

It's dangerous

To see a show of color on her empty black canvas

The shades of his energy dancing tirelessly in her mind

Telling her there's more to this existence than the usual stillness, the comfortable void

Even after she's embraced this solitude

She has been mocked and marred for wanting to be alone

And it isn't until these polar lights brought by his smile

That she somehow considers maybe it is time

This heart isn't a soft pillow that will welcome him with good rest

It is quite the opposite

For so long it has learned to deflect beauty

For beauty has been deceptive

And it doesn't know how to accept

Because it has only known to give

The sky that comforted it has remained unchanged

Until him

And just like that it learned to yearn for dawn

Suddenly wanting to follow the dancing lights

Wherever it may go

Joined the pilgrimage led by the myths of happiness painted in greens and pinks

Without knowing doing so means surrender

This isn't her best idea

But maybe it's time to just let go

Let her be roped into the mysteries of his presence

So here's to the night sky

One they now share together.

[mynuggetheart]

Count Me In

I'm in

This is a game I hope we both win

Two souls wandering finally finding home in each other's smiles

It started with a nice to meet you

That slowly grew into life is better with you

From then to now

Here to there

Little side glances that led to eye to eye stares

Perking tips of the lips to full on laughter

Quick witty banter that would go on for hours

Do you realize how much time we waste trying to dance around three words?

I. Like. You.

It would be simple if it wasn't too complicated

If it didn't mean that by saying that, we admit weakness

Cause what if I was the only one who could hear the music?

I wish it was easy to tell

Your eyes are guarded by that kind smile

All I want is to bathe in the shower of attention that I hope is never ending

Where are we heading?

Could this be the beginning I've been crossing endings for?

No one knows

Not even you and me

We just slowly step into the rhythm our heartbeats create

You make me want to jump and forget the possible heartbreak that comes with this excitement

I don't want to worry about that yet

Cause here you are, your eyes on me

Always following

Always aware

I'd be a fool to think of tomorrow when in this moment I have you

And even if it doesn't last at the very least I got you to turn my way and notice

If only for that, it is worth it

So I'm in

Wherever this is going

Count me in.

[mynuggetheart]

Don’t know what else to do

Guys - It’s been announced recently that the American Music Awards will be honoring me with the Artist of the Decade Award at this year’s ceremony. I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year. Additionally - and this isn’t the way I had planned on telling you this news - Netflix has created a documentary about my life for the past few years. Scott and Scooter have declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project, even though there is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film.

Scott Borchetta told my team that they’ll allow me to use my music only if I do these things: If I agree to not re-record copycat versions of my songs next year (which is something I’m both legally allowed to do and looking forward to) and also told my team that I need to stop talking about him and Scooter Braun.

I feel very strongly that sharing what is happening to me could change the awareness level for other artists and potentially help them avoid a similar fate. The message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished.

This is WRONG. Neither of these men had a hand in the writing of those songs. They did nothing to create the relationship I have with my fans. So this is where I’m asking for your help.

Please let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this. Scooter also manages several artists who I really believe care about other artists and their work. Please ask them for help with this - I’m hoping that maybe they can talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote. I’m especially asking for help from The Carlyle Group, who put up money for the sale of my music to these two men.

I just want to be able to perform MY OWN music. That’s it. I’ve tried to work this out privately through my team but have not been able to resolve anything. Right now my performance at the AMA’s, the Netflix documentary and any other recorded events I am planning to play until November of 2020 are a question mark.

I love you guys and I thought you should know what’s been going on.

Taylor

[mynuggetheart]

I came back to Tumblr because of this.

For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future. I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums. 

Some fun facts about today’s news: I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years. 

Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it. (See photo) Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked. Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.

This is my worst case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it. 

When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever. 

Thankfully, I am now signed to a label that believes I should own anything I create. Thankfully, I left my past in Scott’s hands and not my future. And hopefully, young artists or kids with musical dreams will read this and learn about how to better protect themselves in a negotiation. You deserve to own the art you make.

I will always be proud of my past work. But for a healthier option, Lover will be out August 23. 

Sad and grossed out,

💔

Taylor

[mynuggetheart]

The Celebration of Eve

When one of my best friends told me she was pregnant and that the father of her child tried to deny her, I cried

Not because I was a crybaby and I cry all the time

Not because I felt betrayed that I didn't even know she was dating

Not because I was ashamed of her, I wasn't, and I never will be

I cried because I was scared for her and her then unborn child

Scared of how cruel people can be

With their holier than thou attitude

It was then that I finally understood the dangers of misogyny

Of the fact that when women get pregnant outside of marriage they get reduced to being sluts

They get shamed and ridiculed for being brave enough to carry a child without the support of a husband, a father

If you can call him a father

If all it takes to become one is to do the deed and donate sperm

I realized how easy it was for men to get an escape ticket from their responsibilities

Society will be so busy burning the unwed mother on a stake they forget it took two people to create the life they are condemning

Tongues busy at spinning stories and spreading much appreciated judgment everywhere

Because at times when a person is at her lowest, it becomes a satisfactory habit to compare your lives and feel good about yourself

It didn't happen to you so you are free to sneer and provide your unsolicited opinion about her life

And you expect her to bow her head, avert her eyes, and live as quietly as she can

As if she doesn't have the right to take life by its horns and blaze her own trail

Because how dare a woman defy what society accepts

How dare she stand confidently after doing what she had done

All the while the man walks freely without a single eye following him, without a single mouth telling him off, without anyone even blinking

See, it's not fun to make fun of someone when others don't notice

When others not care

So we put a target on her back

Make her feel she isn't worth much

That she's supposed to box herself in the four corners of her past

While he goes and lives his life untainted

If only adults are adults enough to know when to stop, no, when to not even begin

If only stones are casted as we are instructed

If only compassion is more than a word that gets tossed around but is mostly left unactioned

If only women are on even footing as men

But we are

It's just that not everyone agrees on the case that we are only a part of their limb

Inferior in the way we were created thus inferior in every way

The world will evolve and technology will advance but we will always be women

An extra woe to men

Made to curtsy and look pretty

Always at fault for the wrongs that happen, even as victims we take the blame

And it should stop, no, it has to stop

We are so much more than the weak image they have given us from the start

Prove them wrong

Show them who's boss

Tell the world that they can mock you as much as they want but at the end of the day, they cannot deny the truth that you had more balls than any guy they can think of

You raised a child on your own

You did not break

You are strong

Celebrate that

Celebrate you

You more than deserve it.

[mynuggetheart]

“It annoys me when people try to convince other people that their anger or stress isn’t warranted if someone else in the world is worse off than them. It’s bullshit. Your emotions and reactions are valid, Merit. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. You’re the only one who feels them.”

Without Merit, Colleen Hoover

[mynuggetheart]

Will; Will

When I got home today, I told my mom I am sad and that I do not know why. And she just said that I should stop being sad. I want to. But there are days when I just feel hopeless. When I wear my hoodie and wish the world will freeze until I get to feel the ground beneath me again. Because I feel like I'm floating, suspended in my anxieties. I do not know what it is. I am scared to know what it is. Because it seems much larger than me sometimes and if I fuel it by acknowledging its existence, it might swallow me whole in its emptiness. But to continue denying it's there is exhausting. And I do not know just how long I can manage to keep these feet moving. Sometimes I find myself trying to build as much walls as I can around me. Blocking the light. Keeping air from touching my skin. I cocoon myself in the comfort of my bed. A pillow fort to keep everything away. Numbing my mind from drama series in different languages just to keep it from thinking wandering thoughts. But even then, the tears still come. One by one. As if rehearsed. As if cued to begin and never end. I'm a puddle of tears over nothing. Over a spreading black hole in my chest. But I need to cover it up. Because walking around with that dark cloud above my head will only call for attention. So I wake up, put on my make up, and smile to disguise my wounded soul. Because if even my mother cannot understand the hurt, who else will? Who will listen when the pressing blackness becomes too much, it gets so hard to even breathe? Who would understand that sometimes when I tell people I want to be alone it's because I don't want to drag them into my ravine of unease in case I end up losing them in the process? I am tired. I get so tired at playing make believe and yet I push through. The world doesn't need me, but I have learned that even when you think that, there are others who consider you an important part of theirs. And I feel like I owe it to them to at least get through one more day instead of wallowing in the despair. I learned that we are all meant to break at some point. After all, we weren't made to be bulletproof. Our heart is a muscle. One that gets strained from fatigue and improper use. It's bound to get pulled like any ordinary ones. And the hurt we suffer when it tears leave us scared, unwilling to put it through the same circumstances again. And there are hearts that get stuck. That replays the sadness over and over. It is up to me if I will learn to sing a different tune or keep humming the melody of loneliness. I do not know how. But I try to anyway. Because when all you've got going for you is your stubborness, you go all the way with it. When your hope to survive is your inability to let go then by all means cling to that one thing even when it cuts your palms open. Keep the sting a reminder that you are alive. And that you get better. And that today might be a bad day but tomorrow may be different. And even if it is not, there will come a day when dawn will finally break and envelop you in a hug of warm sunshine. Maybe through a stranger's words that relate to your struggles. Maybe through a friend who holds your hand and doesn't judge you of your weakness. Maybe through yourself, because you just want to live. So live. Live until your tiredness is not of the unknown but of your journeys; until your blisters are not on your heart and soul but on your feet because you kept walking even when your shoes were uncomfortable; until your tears are not from your sadness but the overwhelming love for life. Keep going. You can do it. We can do it. I can do it. I will do it.

[mynuggetheart]

Incomplete

The silence of your absence sometimes becomes too loud I started to fear it

It grew into its own being of loneliness that creeps into my heart in the most unexpected moments

I miss you

As much as I do not want to, but I do

And every day is just another struggle to try to evade the memories I do not want to remember

Because to remember you in fragments is to surrender to the reality that you are gone

And I cannot accept that

You were supposed to be permanent

A variable I thought was constant and would never change

It was a mistake to believe you would stay forever

That there was no chance I would find myself living a life without you

It is one of those days

One of the many days I try to be okay

But maybe I will never be completely fine again

Because a part of me has gone

And I can never have it back

That even in dreams all it will be is a part of my memories

Because when it's time to open my eyes, there's no turning around the fact that you're no longer here

And that it is with my selfish desires that I clutch at the wisps of your lingering presence to keep at least a little bit of you with me

That if I could bottle the last I love you and the last time you recognized me, I would

But I can no longer do as I wish

And it brings me deep regret to continue putting one foot in front of the other going farther and farther from the last time we held hands

Away from that night I sang you songs I can no longer remember

Away from the you who was actual flesh and bones

The you who held me in your arms when I was born

Almost named me after a dinosaur because you couldn't remember what name my mom wanted

The you who never wanted to see me cry, told me it was a weakness to wear my heart on my sleeves

The you who expected the best out of a daughter whose specialty was to keep her I love you's hidden because she was afraid you wouldn't say them back

There are countless regrets

And at times I imagine I speak to you about them and that we are given another chance to erase them

But they are all just a part of my daydreaming

My melancholic escape from the present

Because no matter how many times I try to squeeze my eyes shut and hope to see you again frown at me for not living up to your expectations, I have to finally accept that it will no longer happen

And though every time I attempt to say my final goodbyes to you more words come out,

I know,

That deep down I've forgiven myself for the times I talked back and made you feel unwelcome

That I've finally found peace in knowing we both tried and that we were just the kind of father and daughter that didn't know how to speak the right words

That I will never be whole again and I just have to accept the emptiness that sometimes comes when I miss you the most

You've taken huge chunks of my heart with you, and if to have them back means I will forget grieving you then by all means keep them

Because I would rather live feeling incomplete knowing some parts of me have gone with you than to live as I was before you passed away without knowing the pain of losing you

Someday, when I find to put all my pieces back together I imagine you waiting for me ready to make me whole again

And until then I will keep my remaining parts glued together by the silent love you've given me

You weren't always there but you were and are always within every breath I take

And with that, I am no longer afraid.

[mynuggetheart]

Everybody Wants To Be A Unicorn

Sad girl wakes up and looks at the time She slept for five hours today A big improvement compared to her almost three hours yesterday And just like any other day she checks her social media accounts mindlessly Scrolling on autopilot through other people's lives shamelessly, quietly lurking in a corner, observing, and piling information upon information of someone else's newest victories, failures, arguments, and ill conceived notions of how to flaunt their lives successfully. Sad girl, after wasting time watching others live, refuses to get up and face a new day She knows what will happen anyway It's the same as yesterday, and probably the days before On weekdays it's as if she's asleep and repeats the cycle of a dream she calls her life She wakes up, gets ready for work, goes to work, works, comes home from work, sleeps And then wakes up, gets ready for work, goes to work, works, coems home from work, sleeps Repeat Repeat Repeat And then, Saturday, a reprieve She gets two days to breathe differently, sometimes she acknowledges this chance and performs her poetry Other times she lets the chance go by and stays still for no other reason than she's tired. Sad girl feels tired all the time When she opens her eyes her bones crack from the effort When she tries to get up her heart starts to beat faster than normal as if she's running a marathon or facing a ghost She never dared to try and find out why On the off chance that it was because she is scared she doesn't want to know There are better things to be scared of, what will she be if she learns that she is afraid to live another day? Sad girl doesn't need to pretend she's okay No one ever looked at her long enough to even notice the slight difference in her eyes They have less tears now She thanks the heat for evaporating most of them, for saving her the effort of holding them back Letting them loose was not an option she was ready to face It would be acknowledging her defeat from this world which tries to make her crave for attention For hands to hold hers and arms to hug her tight when she can no longer keep her pieces intact All of which are her stubborn attempt to outgrow the lingering nostalgia of the safeness of her innocence When her mind was not wary of strangers coming and going attaching her feelings she never wanted to have She lets them go silently As silent as her pen can scratch paper As silent as ink bleeds her words There is no other way than to write them off, write them off, write them off. Sad girl tries to write of love and happiness She paints her imaginary dreams with bright colors to hide her incapability to believe in them She writes flowers, and rainbows, and smiles, and glitters The same way others end up color blind in seeking more purples and pinks to make up their unicorns But sad girl knows unicorns are white Pure blinding white A blank slate people dump on to create more of who they want to be Why, she doesn't know Because she is neither white nor colorful She's just someone who is sometimes gray, most of the time colorless Trying to blend into her surroundings to keep herself hidden She knows she eventually needs to come out and tell people she is nothing special Just another girl with words to write to explain who she is A girl with a voice to say why she is the way she is A girl not afraid to stay and be the same as she always is Because when everyone else wants to be a unicorn She just wants to be that girl who is sad, with no idea why, but has come to terms with her sadness. Sad girl stands in front of you to reach other sad souls to tell them it's okay That the worries they keep are worries others hide too That normal is only normal when all the abnormals come together and see that they're not much different from one another Whatever it is that brings you down today, brought you down yesterday, will bring you down tomorrow may not be the same as what's bringing others down But in some way or another they carry their own weight That's why we all desperately want to fly So we can be free But escape is not freedom Acceptance is So join this sad girl in knowing and acknowledging her sadness And free yourself up for more space until you can be more than who you are now And then be a unicorn Everybody wants to be one anyway.

[mynuggetheart]

On Sadness

Every day, you wish to be a stronger version of yourself One whose sadness is not all consuming Whose regrets don't choke her of the lessons she's learned But there is a kind of sadness that lingers even after you have filled your tank with happiness It's a slow creeping vine that takes its sweet time as if knowing well how irresistible it is Everyone eventually succumbs to its vast void Little by little it makes its way Balancing your joys with the sorrows you have tried to bury Bringing back your every mistake Even the ones that you have forgiven yourself for making And what you don't realize is how big of a black hole it is that eats you inside out Until all you are is a shell of the person you dream to become Paper thin with your indecisions But even the flimsiest of paper can cut skin Make it bleed from the sting of such small wound Reminding you of your capacity to damage others even at your weakest There's always that aspect of you hidden in the depths of your most desperate moments The you that keeps breathing The you that keeps waking up The you that keeps living Even when it is easiest to crawl into the arms of your sadness and sleep off the pain To suspend yourself in the bliss of not having to face today as you hide in the comfort of your tears But you are more than that You are stronger than the voices in your head that sometimes cripples your desire to continue You are better than the fear that holds you back You are not your sadness And your sadness is not the world Break out Dream Love And maybe someday you will learn not to be sad anymore Or maybe you won't And that's okay Just keep living Keep fighting Keep believing you are worth it Because you are You always are.

[mynuggetheart]

Sharing with you my poem, The Science of You and Me. This was inspired by Nicola Yoon's book entitled Everything Everything. ❤

[mynuggetheart]

Silent Screams

In her soulless eyes lies a sadness only she knows Its depth immeasurable Sometimes, it claws her throat looking for a way out And she chokes on her denial as she ignores it Not knowing it grows bigger with her every sigh She promises the monsters in her head to wait another day One more after the other Until she's brave enough to unleash them as they want Lest they engulf her first Her body, a canister of her shapeless self A chameleon whose identity is a mystery even to her Sometimes she wonders who she is, if not for her failures and weaknesses Other than her silent misery Apart from her empty existence Is she the scream she stifles the moment she opens her eyes in the morning? Her remorse for fleeting happy moments that come at her like dandelion seeds in the air? Her unwritten envy of bubblegum filters leaving rainbows in her dreary mind? Her continuous search of her missing parts she badly needs to complete a version of herself she has yet to see? But more than that she is afraid Afraid that if she let other people in on her secret they will wave a careless hand in the air and dismiss it for shallowness Afraid that they will look at her with detachment and try to analyze her like a bar graph looking for the root cause of her emptiness Afraid that her cry for help will be seen as attention seeking because no one wants to understand something they do not experience So she keeps silent, swallowing her vile thoughts one by one Smiles brightly and talks loudly to deflect prying eyes from taking a peek into her stash of misery And everyday she searches for a voluntary hand to pull her up from bed A gentle nudge that keeps her awake when all she wants is to sleep away until her body becomes one with her sheets Because if she were a piece of linen she will not have to endure anymore, right? It never happens though She's left on her own, flailing, dog-paddling in short uneven breaths And she asks herself, if they knew, would they care? She doesn't know the answer, and maybe, never will.

[mynuggetheart]

Happy International Women's Day! Reposting this poem dedicated to all strong and beautiful women out there. 💙

Womanity

Woman, you are beautiful Even in your broken pieces When you are at your lowest As tears flow down your cheeks You are still phenomenal You fight with your humble strength of love And there is nothing more beautiful than that.

Woman, you are incomparable They drag you down and call you names They measure by the length of your skirt and the size of your chest They weigh you by your imperfections and taunt you of your shortcomings They label you, stamp you with letters and color you scarlet And yet you show them a different shade of red Fiercer and more representative of your passion.

Woman, you are capable More than you believe and more than what others see You move with your purpose and truth Head held high and a steel of determination in your eyes You pave your path and no one else can claim your success but you.

Woman, you are free Do not apologize for your independence Instead, own it Hold it close and guard it from those who wish to chain your thoughts Waste not a single breath and push your limits in silence The wind that carries you higher blows gently but steady until you become unreachable The sky is yours to take if you learn to let go of everything that pulls you down.

Woman, you are human Your gender is not your definition As long as your heart beats in the same rhythm as the world, dance with it Live and believe that you are significant That you matter Face everyday knowing that the space you occupy today is the beginning of a wider influence that you can have in this world tomorrow Clasp it in your hands and never let go Even if it becomes difficult.

And woman, Know that you are worth it You have always been and will always be worth it Especially on days when you think you amount to nothing, tell yourself differently Grab your demons by the neck and push them to their knees Take none of their contempt and build your rainbow one color at a time Follow your imagination and become the person you are always meant to be There will be times when you will want to give up Do not give up You cannot give up

Constantly remind yourself That you are beautiful, You are incomparable, You are capable, You are free, You are human, And most important of all, you are woman.

[mynuggetheart]

Safe Place

Little bird, Your wings are broken Where are you off to? Why don't you stay and let me nurse your wound My nimble fingers won't hurt They are used to cradling damaged souls Offering them comfort Making them forget that they once befriended pain Patching up their holes with pieces of my skin So that I become a part of their healing. Little bird, You are still weak Where are you off to? I hear your quiet cries on nights when the wind's caress reminds you of the past You are better but still bruised The lackluster shine of your feathers tell me you are not yet ready You can stay longer, do not be shy My arms are your sanctuary for as long as you need them to be They are ready to carry your hurt to make it easier for you to start flying again Use them as if they're an extension of your body They will support you until you are able to support yourself. Little bird, You are in a hurry Where are you off to? I see the strength coming back The flap of your wings are steadily taking you away Without a glance back Without a thank you in my direction You flew as if you never stopped Your wounds forgotten And all I did was watch you leave There is nothing more I can do now that you've healed. Little bird, I still think of you Where have you gone? It was fleeting but I remember How you cried on my shoulder when you couldn't stand the  pain Told me of your hopes so I can help you pray for a faster recovery Gave you both my hands to feed on so you wouldn't hunger for more And yet you did And you left And you haven't come back. Little bird, I miss you I will not forget you But you were never mine I was only someone who helped you become better Until you're good enough to go away And that's all I will ever be A safe place to stay temporarily The open windowsill you fly through for respite A haven to keep your demons at bay And when they're gone so are you But when they come back I won't be here We will have memories for sure But I will not wait for you Not anymore.