Artwork by Natalie Foss

It’s okay to sit alone at a cafe,

write on a napkin about your day

drink tea and fall in love with the way you fall in love

with them

sip on the strangers passing by,

be kind,

please be kind

live life with open eyes and arms,

twirl in the middle of a grocery store,

buy a tub of ice cream, sometimes,

but only sometimes and

crack their faces like an egg

and bake the most delicious of cakes

let them smile with you

and say,

life doesn’t  have to be lived inside of the grays.

feel your humanity connecting through a simple smile

or an how are you

and please don’t ask

how are you

unless it flows from a river of authenticity

and realistically you will have moments

where your brain wants to escape your body

and your body will feel like a prison,

breaking bruises over your skull

but

please open your mouth and stick out your tongue

and taste life like snowflakes in a January storm

and know that it’s okay to taste something sour sometimes-

but you have to continue to try.

live inside of a bathtub for a night,

go to sleep alone

and put your hand over your chest

to feel your heart beating

and breathing is something we take for granted-

please don’t each each other for granted.

It’s okay to wear lipstick

or to not.

Fall in love with boys, or fall in love with girls,

but please fall in love with the love inside of yourself.

It’s okay to feel,

and leave yourself raw and real

living for the moments lips spread wide like summer sunset sky,

let rivers of shivers ripple through your spine,

it’s okay to cry, too-

even the clouds do it.

But it’s not okay to sit at home all day,

wishing and waiting constantly for someone to save you.

Taking razor blades to your mind,

begging for someone to crave you.

It’s not okay to never be alone sometimes,

to hide tears and never wipe your own eyes.

Those things, are not okay.

—

Submitted to ArtParasites by Abbie Young

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